HB643: HB643 Education; install key boxes at each school building in locations determined in collaboration with local law enforcement; provide

Under current Georgia law, there is no specific statute addressing exterior key boxes at schools that allow emergency responders quick access to buildings. This bill would add a new section to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1186) authorizing local boards of education and private school governing bodies to install at least one exterior key box at each school building. The box's location would be chosen jointly with local law enforcement and emergency management agencies. It would need to meet a safety standard (Underwriters Laboratories Standard 1037) and contain keys, access devices, and detailed maps showing building entry points, utilities, defibrillators, and nearby areas like parking lots and athletic fields. Schools that install key boxes must create policies, track each time the box is accessed, and keep those records. Contents would be shielded from public records requests, and schools, school systems, local governments, and their employees would be immune from civil lawsuits over the boxes unless an employee acted with gross negligence or bad faith.

• Authorizes (but does not require) local school boards and private school governing bodies to install exterior key boxes at each school building.
• Requires key box locations to be chosen jointly with local law enforcement and emergency management agencies.
• Sets minimum standards for what the key boxes must contain, including keys, access devices, and detailed campus maps.
• Requires schools that install key boxes to adopt policies and track every time a box is accessed.
• Exempts key box information from public disclosure under Georgia's open records law (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72).
• Grants civil immunity to schools, local governments, and their employees for damages related to the key boxes, unless an employee acted with gross negligence or bad faith.

Public and private elementary and secondary schools in Georgia, local boards of education and school governing bodies, local law enforcement and emergency management agencies, and school and local government employees who could face limited liability protections.

If schools choose to install these key boxes, police and emergency responders could get inside buildings faster during emergencies using pre-placed keys and maps. Schools would take on new recordkeeping duties, and the boxes' contents would stay out of public records, while liability protections would shield schools and staff from most related lawsuits.

• Adds new O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1186 authorizing, but not mandating, installation of exterior key boxes at each school building.
• Subsection (b) requires key box placement to be chosen with local law enforcement and emergency management input and sets required contents, including keys and detailed campus maps.
• Subsection (c) requires schools that install key boxes to adopt implementation policies and maintain access-audit records with law enforcement.
• Subsection (d) exempts key box information from public disclosure under Georgia's open records law (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72).
• Subsection (e) grants civil immunity to schools, school systems, local governments, and employees for damages from key box installation and use, except for gross negligence or bad faith by employees.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-02-28House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-27House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-26House Hopper (House)

• Rick Townsend (R, HD-179)Primary sponsor
• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)
• Bethany Ballard (R, HD-147)
• Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)
• Matt Dubnik (R, HD-029)
• Lynn Heffner (D, HD-130)

• school safety
• emergency response
• open records exemptions
• local school boards
• liability protection