Section 17-4-25. Power to make arrests in any county; arrested persons taken before judicial officer; transportation costs; holding in county other than one in which offense committed; transport to regional jail

   (a) Under a warrant issued by a judicial officer, an arresting officer may, in any county without regard to the residence of the arresting officer, arrest any person charged with a crime. It is the duty of the arresting officer to take the accused, with the warrant under which he was arrested, to the county in which the offense is alleged to have been committed, for examination before any judicial officer of that county.

(b) The county where the offense is alleged to have been committed shall pay the expenses of the arresting officer in taking the arrested person to the county. The arresting officer may hold or imprison the arrested person in a county other than the county in which the offense is alleged to have been committed long enough to enable him to prepare to take the arrested person to the county in which the offense is alleged to have been committed.

(c) Should the county in which the offense is alleged to have been committed be a member of a regional jail authority created under Article 5 of Chapter 4 of Title 42, known as the "Regional Jail Authorities Act," the arresting officer shall transport the prisoner to the regional jail. The judicial officer of the county in which the offense is alleged to have been committed may conduct the examination of the accused required by subsection (a) of this Code section in the county in which the offense is alleged to have been committed or in facilities available at the regional jail or by audio-visual communication between the two locations and between the accused, the court, the attorneys, and the witnesses.

Orig. Code 1863, § 4607; Ga. L. 1865-66, p. 38, §§ 1, 2; Code 1868, § 4624; Code 1873, § 4721; Code 1882, § 4721; Ga. L. 1895, p. 34, § 1; Penal Code 1895, § 898; Penal Code 1910, § 919; Code 1933, § 27-209; Ga. L. 1996, p. 742, § 1.