HB350: HB350 Domestic relations; safe places for newborns; revise provisions

Georgia's existing law lets a mother avoid prosecution for abandonment if she leaves a newborn, no more than 30 days old, with staff at a medical facility, fire station, or police station. House Bill 350 renames the law the Eliza Jane Warner Act and expands it in two main ways. First, it adds ambulance services and public safety vehicles to the list of places and personnel who can take physical custody of a newborn without the mother facing prosecution. Second, it authorizes medical facilities, fire stations, police stations, and ambulance services to install newborn safety devices, enclosed, locked, monitored receptacles, that let a mother leave a newborn up to 45 days old anonymously, without direct contact with staff. The bill sets technical requirements for these devices, including security cameras and a dual alarm system, and requires staffed facilities to be operating 24/7 with emergency medical services on site. It also bars state funds from being used to buy or operate the devices, and keeps existing civil and criminal immunity protections for facilities and staff who accept newborns under the law.

• Renames the 'Safe Place for Newborns Act of 2002' to the 'Eliza Jane Warner Act' (O.C.G.A. Section 19-10A-1).
• Adds ambulance services and public safety vehicles to the list of locations and personnel who can take custody of a newborn without the mother being prosecuted.
• Creates a new legal option letting a mother leave a newborn, up to 45 days old, in an enclosed 'newborn safety device' rather than handing the child to staff.
• Requires newborn safety devices to include a security camera and a dual alarm system, with one alarm tested monthly and the device's interior checked twice daily.
• Requires facilities with a newborn safety device to be staffed 24/7 by an emergency medical services provider and to keep the device visible to staff.
• Prohibits the use of state funds to buy or operate newborn safety devices.

Mothers of newborns considering surrendering a child anonymously, ambulance services and their staff, fire stations, police stations, medical facilities, the Department of Human Services, and juvenile courts that receive custody of surrendered infants.

The bill gives mothers a new anonymous option, a locked safety device, to leave a newborn without direct staff contact, and extends legal protection from prosecution to leaving a baby with an ambulance crew, potentially making it easier and less intimidating for a parent in crisis to safely surrender a newborn.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. Chapter 10A of Title 19, renaming the law the Eliza Jane Warner Act and adding definitions for 'ambulance service,' 'newborn safety device,' and 'public safety vehicle' (O.C.G.A. Section 19-10A-2).
• O.C.G.A. Section 19-10A-4 sets a 30-day age limit for leaving a newborn directly with staff but a 45-day limit for using a newborn safety device, and extends protection to ambulance services and public safety vehicles.
• O.C.G.A. Section 19-10A-6 requires facilities to arrange immediate transport of a surrendered newborn to the nearest medical facility and notify the Department of Human Services, which must take custody within six hours of discharge readiness.
• O.C.G.A. Section 19-10A-7 keeps civil and criminal immunity for facilities and staff accepting newborns, except for negligent treatment.
• O.C.G.A. Section 19-10A-8 authorizes installation of newborn safety devices at facilities staffed 24/7 by emergency medical providers, sets camera and dual-alarm requirements, and bars state funding for the devices.
• Section 2 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2026-05-12Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-12Act 639
3. 2026-05-12House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-04-02House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
6. 2026-04-02Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2026-04-02Senate Third Read (Senate)
8. 2026-04-02Senate Taken from Table (Senate)

• Mike Cameron (R, HD-001)Primary sponsor
• Clint Crowe (R, HD-118)
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
• Karen Mathiak (R, HD-082)
• Dale Washburn (R, HD-144)
• Matthew Gambill (R, HD-015)
• Brian Strickland (R, SD-042)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 3, 2026

   166 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 8 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #472

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   39 yea, 10 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Motion To Table Remaining Legislation On The Rules Calendar: Senate Vote #912

3. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2026

   49 yea, 1 nay (3 not voting, 1 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #977

4. PassedHouse voteApril 3, 2026

   164 yea, 4 nay (7 not voting, 1 absent)

   Agree To Senate Substitute: House Vote #877

• safe haven laws
• newborn abandonment
• child welfare
• domestic relations law
• emergency services