In the case of actions by informers to recover any fine, forfeiture, or penalty, the first filed in the clerk’s office shall have precedence for the same cause of action and the latter filed actions shall abate.
§ 9-2-47.Precedence of first filed informer’s action; abatement of others
Chapter 2. Actions Generally · Article 3. Abatement · Last amended 1933 · Last verified July 17, 2026
In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 9-2-47 provides that when informers file actions to recover the same fine, forfeiture, or penalty for the same cause of action, the one filed first in the clerk’s office takes precedence, and every action filed after it on that same cause automatically abates.
Full Text of § 9-2-47
Plain-English Summary
Informer actions let a private party sue to recover a fine, forfeiture, or penalty, standing in for the public interest a penal action serves. More than one informer might spot the same violation and rush to the courthouse, which raises the question this section answers: who wins the race?
The rule turns on filing order. Whoever files first in the clerk’s office for a given cause of action gets precedence, and later-filed actions on the same cause abate — they don’t survive alongside the earlier one.
The rule discourages a pile-up of duplicate informer suits chasing the same penalty, and it rewards the party who moves fastest to bring the violation before the court, echoing the general prohibition elsewhere in this chapter against prosecuting two actions at once for the same cause against the same party.
Frequently Asked Questions
If two informers file actions over the same violation, which one proceeds?
The one first filed in the clerk’s office has precedence for that cause of action.
What happens to informer actions filed after the first one on the same cause?
The later filed actions abate.
What kinds of recoveries does this section cover?
Actions by informers to recover a fine, forfeiture, or penalty.
Does filing location matter for determining which informer action has precedence?
Yes. Precedence turns on which action was first filed in the clerk’s office.
Does this section apply to ordinary civil actions between private parties, or only to informer actions?
The text is limited to actions by informers to recover a fine, forfeiture, or penalty.
Amendment History
Orig. Code 1863, § 2837; Code 1868, § 2845; Code 1873, § 2896; Code 1882, § 2896; Civil Code 1895, § 3740; Civil Code 1910, § 4334; Code 1933, § 3-606.
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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