HB527: HB527 Domestic relations; creation and revisions of certain child abuse protocol procedures for cases of alleged child abuse; provide

Georgia law already requires local protocol committees made up of judges, prosecutors, police, and child welfare officials to write and follow procedures for investigating and prosecuting child abuse cases. HB 527 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 19-15-2 to base these committees on judicial circuits rather than individual counties, and adds new required participants such as school police, sexual assault center directors, court appointed special advocate representatives, and a local citizen or advocacy group focused on child abuse prevention. The bill also changes where protocols and annual reports are filed, moving that duty from the Division of Family and Children Services and the Office of the Child Advocate to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which must then forward copies to those same offices. It moves the annual reporting deadline from September to July, requires annual (rather than semiannual) committee meetings, and adds a December 31 compliance certification. The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council must notify the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House, and Chief Justice of any judicial circuits found noncompliant.

• Reorganizes child abuse protocol committees around judicial circuits instead of individual counties, changing who establishes and chairs them.
• Expands the required committee membership to include school police, sexual assault center directors, medical examiners, CASA representatives, and a local child abuse advocacy group representative.
• Lets the chief superior court judge order an unresponsive agency to participate on the protocol committee, with noncompliance punishable as contempt of court.
• Redirects protocol and report filings to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council instead of directly to the Division of Family and Children Services and the Office of the Child Advocate.
• Moves the annual report deadline from September 1 to July 1 and requires committees to meet annually rather than semiannually.
• Adds a new requirement that protocol committees submit a compliance certification to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council by December 31 each year, triggering notice to top state officials if a circuit is noncompliant.

Superior and juvenile court judges, district attorneys, sheriffs, county police chiefs, school police, county boards of education, public health departments, mental health organizations, coroners and medical examiners, sexual assault and child advocacy centers, CASA programs, local child abuse advocacy groups, and the Division of Family and Children Services and Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.

Families, investigators, and prosecutors involved in child abuse cases would deal with protocol committees organized by judicial circuit rather than county, with more required participants and a compliance reporting system that flags noncompliant circuits to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker, and Chief Justice.

• Subsection (a) requires each judicial circuit, rather than each county, to establish a child abuse investigation and prosecution protocol.
• Subsection (b) has the chief superior court judge create the protocol committee, chaired by the chief juvenile court judge, and decide whether it covers each county separately or the whole circuit.
• Subsection (c) lists required committee members and adds new ones, including school police, sexual assault center directors, forensic medical examiners, CASA representatives, and a local child abuse advocacy group representative.
• Subsection (c)(6) and (d) allow the chief superior court judge to order noncompliant agencies to participate, with failure to comply treated as contempt of court.
• Subsection (e) requires protocols to be filed by email with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which must forward copies to the Division of Family and Children Services and the Office of the Child Advocate.
• Subsection (f)/(g) changes committee meetings from semiannual to annual and moves the annual report deadline from September 1 to July 1.
• Subsection (h) creates a new December 31 compliance certification requirement, with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council notifying the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House, and Chief Justice of noncompliant circuits.

1. 2026-02-26House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2025-02-21House Second Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-20House First Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-19House Hopper (House)

• Long Tran (D, HD-080)Primary sponsor
• Scott Holcomb (D, HD-101)
• Lisa Campbell (D, HD-035)
• Kasey Carpenter (R, HD-004)
• Shea Roberts (D, HD-052)

• child abuse investigations
• judicial circuits
• child protection policy
• court procedures
• local government committees