Hardison v. Fayssoux

In Hardison v. Fayssoux, 168 Ga. App. 398, 400 (309 SE2d 397) (1983) the Court recognized that "in its ordinary signification 'shall' is a word of command, and the context ought to be very strongly persuasive before that word is softened into a mere permission." However, the Court also noted that "in the absence of injury to the defendant, a statute which directs that some act be done within a given time period, but prescribes no penalty for not doing it within that time, is not mandatory but directory; that is, that in such instances 'shall' denotes simple futurity rather than a command." Id.