A person commits the crime of indecent exposure by exposing the person’s body or private parts (usually genitals, anus, buttocks, or female breasts) in a public place and in the presence of another person who might be offended, alarmed, or annoyed. Laws vary from state to state—including definitions of exposed body parts—and some states require the exposure to have been made with the intent to attract attention or to sexually gratify the person making the indecent exposure, or to sexually gratify another person, or to offend another person.

Indecent exposure laws are generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In Georgia, indecent exposure is governed by the state's criminal statutes, specifically under the public indecency laws. According to O.C.G.A. § 16-6-8, a person commits the offense of public indecency when they perform any of the following acts in a public place: (1) an act of sexual intercourse; (2) a lewd exposure of the sexual organs; (3) a lewd appearance in a state of partial or complete nudity; or (4) a lewd caress or indecent fondling of the body of another person. To be convicted of indecent exposure in Georgia, the prosecution must prove that the act was likely to be seen by others who would be offended or alarmed by it. The law does not explicitly require the intent to attract attention or to sexually gratify oneself or another, but the context of the act may imply such intent. Indecent exposure is typically considered a misdemeanor in Georgia, but repeated offenses or offenses committed in the presence of minors can result in more severe charges.