HR128: HR128 Watkins, Mr. Joseph Samuel; compensate

Georgia is one of only a handful of states without a law that automatically compensates people who are exonerated after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. Because there is no such statute, individual compensation for exonerated Georgians has to go through the General Assembly as a resolution. This resolution compensates five men: Joseph Samuel Watkins, Daryl Lee Clark, Michael Woolfolk, Mario Stinchcomb, and Sedrick Moore, whose convictions were vacated after new evidence, DNA testing, or witness recantations surfaced years or decades later. Each man's part of the resolution lays out the case history, directs the Department of Administrative Services to pay a specific dollar amount, and requires the man to sign a release giving up all other claims against the state. Payments come as an upfront lump sum followed by ten years of monthly annuity installments starting in 2026, and the money is exempt from state income tax. Compensation stops if the person has a pending lawsuit against the state over the same conviction, and payments continue to the person's estate or heirs if he dies.

• Directs the Department of Administrative Services to pay $1,688,527.40 to Joseph Samuel Watkins, $1,917,128.00 to Daryl Lee Clark, $1,350,000.00 to Michael Woolfolk, $975,000.00 to Mario Stinchcomb, and $1,691,280.00 to Sedrick Moore.
• Requires each man to sign a release and waiver giving up all past, present, and future claims against the state before receiving payment.
• Structures each payment as an initial lump sum followed by ten years of equal monthly annuity installments beginning in 2026, with interest paid at the prevailing market rate.
• Bars a man from receiving compensation under the resolution if he has a lawsuit pending against the state over the same wrongful conviction.
• Exempts the compensation payments from state income tax.
• States that if a recipient dies, remaining annuity payments continue to his estate or heirs, but no estate or representative may seek payment on his behalf while he is alive.

The resolution directly affects five named men exonerated after wrongful convictions in Floyd, Fulton, and Colquitt counties, and the Department of Administrative Services, which must make the payments. It also affects state agencies and employees, who are released from further legal claims tied to these cases.

Because Georgia has no general law compensating the wrongfully convicted, each case like these requires a separate legislative resolution. This bill shows how that process works in practice: five men who collectively spent decades imprisoned for crimes they did not commit receive negotiated payments, in exchange for giving up any further legal claims against the state.

• Part I compensates Joseph Samuel Watkins $1,688,527.40 for a 2001 murder conviction overturned in 2022 after evidence of an improper juror 'drive test' and a mismatched bullet caliber.
• Part II compensates Daryl Lee Clark $1,917,128.00 for a 1998 murder conviction vacated in 2022 after a key witness admitted her testimony was false and a translation error was uncovered.
• Part III compensates Michael Woolfolk $1,350,000.00 for a 2004 murder conviction vacated in 2021 after a missing witness's testimony supported a self-defense claim.
• Part IV compensates Mario Stinchcomb $975,000.00 in the same underlying case as Woolfolk, after his case was dismissed in 2021.
• Part V compensates Sedrick Moore $1,691,280.00 for a 2002 rape and armed robbery conviction dismissed in 2023 after new DNA testing failed to match him.
• Each part requires a signed release of claims, sets payment as a lump sum plus a ten-year annuity starting in 2026, and exempts the money from state income tax.

1. 2025-03-10Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-03-06House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
3. 2025-03-06House Third Readers (House)
4. 2025-03-04House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
5. 2025-02-05House Second Readers (House)
6. 2025-02-04House First Readers (House)
7. 2025-02-03House Hopper (House)

• Katie Dempsey (R, HD-013)Primary sponsor
• Matt Barton (R, HD-005)
• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-012)
• Omari Crawford (D, HD-089)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2025

   151 yea, 12 nay (4 not voting, 13 absent)

   Adopt: House Vote #268

• wrongful conviction compensation
• criminal justice
• exoneration
• Georgia Innocence Project
• state compensation payments