What Happens to the Statute of Limitations When a Defendant Leaves Georgia?
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On paper, the clock stops: O.C.G.A. § 9-3-94 says that if a defendant “removes from this state, the time of his absence from the state until he returns to reside shall not be counted or estimated in his favor”. In practice, the Court of Appeals applies that tolling only when the move makes it impossible to serve the defendant, and Georgia’s Long Arm Statute can make service possible on a defendant who moved away.
The statute and the limit the courts put on it
The text of § 9-3-94 is short and opens with a qualifier: “Unless otherwise provided by law”. The decisions that apply it add the controlling condition.
In Andrews v. Stark (2003), a driver involved in a 1999 Coffee County collision later moved away, and the injured plaintiff argued that her absence paused the two-year deadline. The Court of Appeals explained that the tolling “applies only if the removal makes it impossible to perfect service on the defendant”, and that whether the deadline has run “is dependent upon whether plaintiffs had available a method of perfecting lawful service on the defendant”. In Dickson v. Amick (2008), the defendant had moved to Maryland; because the Long Arm Statute “could be utilized to serve” him, the court held that § 9-3-94 “simply does not apply”.
Why the Long Arm Statute closes the gap
Georgia’s Long Arm Statute, O.C.G.A. §§ 9-10-90 through 9-10-94, “permits service on nonresidents in certain situations”, as Andrews put it. Andrews notes that the Supreme Court of Georgia, in Crowder v. Ginn (1982), allowed “nonresident” in that statute to include a defendant who lived in Georgia when the tort happened and moved away afterward. So a former Georgian who caused a crash here and now lives in another state can be served there, and the two years keep running.
The out-of-state-driver statute does not help with a former resident
Georgia’s Nonresident Motorist Act (§§ 40-12-1 through 40-12-8) allows service through the Secretary of State on drivers who are not Georgia residents. In Andrews, the plaintiff’s lawyer served the Secretary of State under that Act, but the court pointed out that the Act “does not apply when the defendant was a resident of Georgia at the time of the tort”. Serving through the wrong statute left the plaintiff without valid service. Choosing the right method for the defendant’s residence on the date of the crash is part of meeting the deadline; venue and jurisdiction over nonresidents are covered in where you can sue an out-of-state defendant in Georgia.
What this means for the deadline
| Situation | Effect on the two-year period |
|---|---|
| Defendant moved away, address known or findable | Clock keeps running; serve under the Long Arm Statute |
| Defendant was a nonresident at the time of the crash | Clock keeps running; Nonresident Motorist Act or Long Arm Statute available |
| Defendant left and service is impossible | § 9-3-94 tolling may apply, as Andrews and Dickson describe the rule |
| Defendant hid facts about the claim itself | A different statute, § 9-3-96, may apply |
Concealment by the defendant is covered in fraudulent concealment tolling.
The burden is on the plaintiff. Arguing that service was impossible requires showing what was done to find and serve the defendant, and Dickson described Andrews as holding that the steps taken there (internet searches, phone books, service on the Secretary of State, all done after the defendant moved to dismiss) did not meet the plaintiff’s burden of diligence.
Before relying on a defendant’s absence
- Record where the defendant lived on the date of the injury.
- Search for the current address and keep a record of each search.
- Serve under the statute that fits that residence history.
- Treat the ordinary deadline as the working deadline; the other tolling rules are summarized in how long you have to file a Georgia personal injury claim.
Sources
- O.C.G.A. §§ 9-3-94, 9-10-90 through 9-10-94, 40-12-1 through 40-12-8.
- Andrews v. Stark, 264 Ga. App. 792 (2003)
- Dickson v. Amick, 291 Ga. App. 557 (2008)
General information about Georgia law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.