Can a city cop give out a ticket outside of the city that would normally be his/her jurisdiction?

) February 13th, 2014

I was noticing one of our city cops pulling in to the convenience store outside of the city, and I was just wondering if he could write a ticket if I ran the red light, located about a half mile out of the city limits. Not that I would think of running the light if the damn thing takes forever to change. I suppose anyone could issue a citizens arrest warrant, but could he issue a traffic ticket?

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3 Answers

I don’t know about your state, but here in Georgia, a sworn officer can make an arrest anywhere within the state, whether out of county or city.

Most of them don’t, because there is additional paperwork hassle to deal with. But they absolutely have the authority to do so.

What I have seen is that if an Atlanta cop, for example, sees something going on in Gainesville (40 miles away), they will call or radio it in, and maybe even wait for the local to get there. But they won’t write the citation or make the arrest themselves

elbanditoroso (33524

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