§ 9-14-2.Habeas corpus on account of detention of spouse or child

Before Georgia built out a modern body of domestic relations law, habeas corpus was one of the tools courts used to settle who should have custody of a spouse or child. This section, dating to an 1845 statute, still carries that older function inside the general habeas Code. Where the case involves a spouse or child being detained rather than a criminal or civil confinement, the judge does not have to choose only between the petitioner and the respondent. After hearing the facts, the judge exercises discretion over the custody question itself.

The second clause matters as a check on that discretion, though it reaches only part of the case. For a child, the statute expressly empowers the judge to hand custody to a third person — someone who is neither the petitioner asking for the writ nor the respondent holding the child. That option keeps the court from being forced into a binary outcome when neither side is the right fit, particularly where a grandparent or other relative may be the better placement for the child. The statute does not extend that same third-person option to the custody of a spouse.

This provision sits inside the general Article 1 procedure, so the petition, verification, service, and hearing rules earlier and later in this chapter apply here too. The section itself supplies only the substantive standard for the custody decision once a habeas hearing over a spouse or child reaches the judge.