HB434: HB434 Crimes and offenses; offense of selling a child for financial gain; provide

Under current Georgia law, Code Section 19-8-24 in the adoption title (O.C.G.A. § 19-8-24) already bans certain advertising and unlawful payments (called 'inducements') connected to placing a child for adoption, and it sets penalties, an exemption for personal communications, and civil remedies. This bill takes that entire existing provision and relocates it into the criminal code, specifically Chapter 12 of Title 16, which covers offenses against public health and morals, and renumbers it as Code Section 16-12-6. The old adoption-title section is repealed and left blank ('reserved'). A new subsection is added stating that terms in the relocated section carry the same meanings used elsewhere in Georgia's adoption law (O.C.G.A. § 19-8-1). Two other adoption sections, on financial disclosures in adoption petitions and on court review of inducement violations, are updated to point to the new section number, 16-12-6, instead of the old one.

• Moves the existing ban on unlawful adoption inducements and advertising violations from the adoption code (O.C.G.A. § 19-8-24) into the criminal code as new O.C.G.A. § 16-12-6.
• Repeals and leaves blank ('reserves') the old O.C.G.A. § 19-8-24 so the substance now lives only in the criminal code section.
• Adds a subsection to the new criminal code section clarifying that its terms follow the definitions already used in Georgia's adoption law (O.C.G.A. § 19-8-1).
• Updates cross-references in the adoption petition financial disclosure rules (O.C.G.A. § 19-8-13) and the adoption hearing rules (O.C.G.A. § 19-8-18) to point to the relocated section 16-12-6.

People involved in Georgia adoptions, including biological parents, adoptive parents, adoption attorneys, and courts handling adoption petitions, along with district attorneys who investigate possible violations of the inducement rules referenced in these sections.

By moving the inducement ban into the criminal code chapter for offenses against public health and morals, the bill signals it as a criminal matter rather than purely a family-law issue, which could affect how the provision is classified, prosecuted, or cited in future cases involving improper payments tied to adoption placements.

• Section 1 redesignates Code Section 19-8-24 (advertising restrictions, unlawful inducements, penalties, exemptions, and civil actions in adoption) as new Code Section 16-12-6 in the criminal code, and repeals the old section.
• Section 1 adds subsection (h) to the new Code Section 16-12-6 stating its terms follow the definitions in Code Section 19-8-1.
• Section 2 updates a cross-reference in Code Section 19-8-13, on financial disclosures in adoption petitions, from 19-8-24 to 16-12-6.
• Section 3 updates a cross-reference in Code Section 19-8-18, on adoption hearings and district attorney review of inducement violations, from 19-8-24 to 16-12-6.
• Section 4 repeals any other laws that conflict with the bill.

1. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
2. 2025-02-27House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
3. 2025-02-18House Second Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-13House First Readers (House)
5. 2025-02-12House Hopper (House)

• Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)Primary sponsor
• Mandi Ballinger (R, HD-023)
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
• Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)
• Karen Mathiak (R, HD-082)
• Kimberly New (R, HD-040)

• adoption law
• child welfare
• criminal code
• adoption inducements