RBMS Security Committee: State Laws: Georgia
The RBMS Security Committee attempts to maintain a current list of statutes from each of the fifty states pertaining to library thefts or other criminal acts involving library and archival materials (view index). Following are the relevant laws for the state of Georgia:
Georgia Code 20-5-52 to 20-5-55
Any person who shall steal or unlawfully take or willfully or maliciously write upon, cut, tear, deface, disfigure, soil, obliterate, break, or destroy or who shall sell or buy or receive, knowing it to have been stolen, any book, pamphlet, document, newspaper, periodical, map, chart, picture, portrait, engraving, statue, coin, medal, equipment, specimen, recording, video product, microform, computer software, film, or other work of literature or object of art or the equipment necessary to its display or use belonging to or in the care of a public library shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
20-5-53
Any person who borrows from any public library any book, newspaper, magazine, manuscript, pamphlet, publication, recording, video product, microform, computer software, film, or other article or equipment necessary to its display or use belonging to or in the care of such public library under any agreement to return it and thereafter fails to return such book, newspaper, magazine, manuscript, pamphlet, publication, recording, video product, microform, computer software, film, or other article or equipment necessary to its display or use shall be given written notice, mailed to his last known address or delivered in person, to return such article or equipment within 15 days after the date of such notification. Such notice shall contain a copy of this Code section. If such person shall thereafter willfully and knowingly fail to return such article or equipment within 15 days, such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500.00 or imprisonment for not more than 30 days and shall be required to return such article or equipment or provide reimbursement for the replacement cost of such article or equipment.
20-5-54
Any person who, without authority and with the intention of depriving the public library of the ownership of such property, willfully conceals a book or other public library property, while still on the premises of such public library, or willfully or without authority removes any book or other property from any public library shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; provided, however, that, if the replacement cost of the public library property is less than $25.00, the punishment shall be a fine of not more than $250.00.
Proof of the willful concealment of any book or other public library property while still on the premises of such public library shall be prima-facie evidence of intent to violate this Code section.
20-5-55
An agent or employee of a public library or of any department or office of the state or local government causing the arrest of any person pursuant to the provisions of this part shall not be held civilly liable for unlawful detention, slander, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, false arrest, or assault and battery of the person so arrested unless excessive or unreasonable force is used, whether such arrest takes place on the premises by such agent or employee; provided, however, that, in causing the arrest of such person, the public library or agent or employee of the public library had at the time of such arrest probable cause to believe that the person committed willful theft or concealment of books or other library property.
See Georgia statutes online at: http://www.state.ga.us/services/ocode/ocgsearch.htm.
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