SB301: SB301 State Flag, Seal, and Other Symbols; protection of government statues, monuments, plaques, banners, and other commemorative symbols; revise provisions

Georgia law already restricts moving or damaging monuments on public land, including memorials tied to military service, historical events, or the Confederacy. This bill rewrites that law (O.C.G.A. § 50-3-1) to broaden its reach and strengthen enforcement. It adds detailed definitions of 'monument,' 'agency,' and 'officer,' and makes clear that any person or group, not just someone personally harmed, can sue over a violation. The bill keeps treble damages (three times repair or replacement cost) for anyone who damages, destroys, or removes a monument without authorization, and adds recovery of attorney's fees and court costs. It requires agencies wanting to remove or relocate a monument to give 90 days' public notice and follow a process for transferring it to an interested third party. It creates a statewide monument registry run by the Department of Community Affairs, reaffirms that the Stone Mountain Confederate memorial can never be altered or removed, and waives the state's sovereign and qualified immunity for lawsuits under this law.

• Expands and clarifies definitions of 'monument,' 'agency,' and 'officer' covered by Georgia's monument protection law (O.C.G.A. § 50-3-1).
• Allows any interested person, group, or legal entity to sue over damage, removal, or concealment of a monument, without needing to show personal injury.
• Keeps treble (triple) damages for anyone who unlawfully damages, destroys, or removes a monument, and adds liability for the winning side's attorney's fees and court costs.
• Requires a government agency to give 90 days' public notice before removing or relocating a monument and to offer it to interested third parties for public display.
• Creates a statewide registry of public monuments maintained by the Department of Community Affairs, requiring agencies to report their monuments and any relocations.
• Waives the state's sovereign immunity and any public officer's qualified immunity for lawsuits brought under this monument protection law.

State and local government agencies, school boards, the Board of Regents and University System institutions, private monument owners, the Department of Community Affairs, the Attorney General and district attorneys, and any person or group who wants to bring a lawsuit over a monument's damage or removal.

Georgians who want to remove, relocate, or alter a public monument, including Confederate memorials, would face a stricter 90-day notice process and broader legal exposure, while anyone, regardless of personal harm, could sue over unauthorized changes and collect triple damages plus legal fees, since the state can no longer claim immunity.

• Defines 'monument' broadly to include statues, plaques, markers, flags, banners, and memorials tied to historical, military, or Confederate significance (subsection (b)(1)).
• Makes it a misdemeanor to mutilate, deface, damage, or conceal a monument on public property, and bars removal without following the law's process (paragraphs (2)-(3)).
• Sets treble damages plus exemplary damages and attorney's fees for anyone who damages or removes a monument without authorization (paragraph (4)).
• Grants standing to any interested person or group, not just an owner, to sue over a violation, in the superior court where the monument is located (paragraph (5)).
• Requires 90 days' public notice before an agency removes or relocates a monument, with a process to offer it to third parties for continued display (paragraph (11)).
• Reaffirms that the Confederate memorial carved into Stone Mountain 'shall never be altered, removed, concealed, or obscured' (subsection (c)).
• Directs the Department of Community Affairs to create and maintain a statewide registry of public monuments, updated whenever one is relocated (subsection (e)).
• Waives the state's sovereign immunity and public officers' qualified immunity for claims brought under this Code section (subsections (f) and (g)).

1. 2026-03-06Senate Tabled (Senate)
2. 2026-03-06Senate Third Read (Senate)
3. 2026-03-06Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
4. 2026-03-06Senate Tabled (Senate)
5. 2026-02-09Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
6. 2026-02-06Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2025-02-28Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2025-02-27Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)Primary sponsor
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Marty Harbin (R, SD-016)
• Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
• Brandon Beach (R, SD-021)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Mike Hodges (R, SD-003)
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Blake Tillery (R, SD-019)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)

• Confederate monuments
• public monuments and memorials
• Stone Mountain
• sovereign immunity
• historic preservation law