When any judgment obtained in any court becomes dormant, the same may be renewed or revived by an action or by scire facias, at the option of the holder of the judgment, within three years from the time it becomes dormant.
§ 9-12-61.Dormant judgments renewed by action or scire facias; time of renewal
Chapter 12. Verdict and Judgment · Article 3. Dormancy and Revival of Judgments · Last amended 1933 · Last verified July 17, 2026
In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 9-12-61 gives the holder of a dormant judgment three years from the date it became dormant to renew or revive it, either by filing a new action or by scire facias, choosing whichever avenue the holder prefers.
Full Text of § 9-12-61
Plain-English Summary
Dormancy is not the end of the line for a Georgia judgment — it is a warning stage with a further deadline attached. Once a judgment goes dormant under the rules in the preceding section, the holder gets three more years, counted from the moment dormancy set in, to bring it back to life.
The statute gives the holder a choice of procedure: an action, meaning an ordinary lawsuit seeking a new judgment on the old one, or scire facias, a proceeding aimed specifically at reviving the original judgment rather than starting over. The choice belongs to the holder — the statute says “at the option of the holder of the judgment” — so nothing about the underlying debt forces one path over the other.
Miss the three-year window and the judgment does not just stay dormant; it typically becomes unrevivable, leaving the creditor to pursue the underlying debt, if at all, through some other legal theory rather than through the old judgment. That makes the three-year figure in this section one of the highest-stakes deadlines a judgment creditor in Georgia will ever track.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a judgment holder have to revive a dormant judgment?
Three years from the time the judgment becomes dormant.
What methods can a holder use to renew a dormant judgment?
Either an action or a scire facias proceeding, at the holder’s option.
Who decides whether to proceed by action or by scire facias?
The holder of the judgment. The statute makes the choice between the two methods the holder’s option.
What happens if the three-year period expires without renewal?
The section does not extend any further grace period, so a judgment left unrevived past three years from dormancy generally can no longer be renewed under this provision.
Does this three-year period run from the original judgment date or from dormancy?
From dormancy. The clock in this section starts when the judgment becomes dormant, which itself typically follows seven years of inaction under the dormancy statute.
Amendment History
Laws 1823, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 498.; Code 1863, §§ 2855, 3522; Code 1868, §§ 2863, 3545; Code 1873, §§ 2914, 3604; Code 1882, §§ 2914, 3604; Civil Code 1895, §§ 3761, 5378; Ga. L. 1910, p. 121, § 1; Civil Code 1910, §§ 4355, 5973; Code 1933, §§ 110-1002, 110-1003.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, published by the
Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Georgia Code Revision Commission / LexisNexis. Last verified July 17, 2026.
· Official source
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