---
title: HB 1004. Public Safety, Department of; security guards to leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives and their families; provisions
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1004
cite_as: HB 1004, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1004
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1004.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1004/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72299
date: 2026-01-28
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1003.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1005.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1004.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1004
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-01-16
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
  - David Wilkerson
  - Lisa Campbell
  - Esther Panitch
  - Dar'shun Kendrick
  - Ruwa Romman
  - Karen Lupton
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1004/2025
upstream_id: 2085250
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - legislative security
  - public safety
  - state government
  - Georgia General Assembly
  - threat protection
---

# HB 1004. Public Safety, Department of; security guards to leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives and their families; provisions

## Text

House Bill 1004
By: Representatives Wilkerson of the 38th, Campbell of the 35th, Panitch of the 51st, Kendrick
of the 95th, Romman of the 97th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 3 of Chapter 2 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to the security guard division of the Department of Public Safety, so as to authorize
the commissioner of public safety to provide security guards to the majority and minority
leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives and their families or any member of the
General Assembly who is subject to a creditable threat to his or her safety or security in the
same manner as currently provided for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of
the House of Representatives; to provide for related matters; to provide an effective date; to
repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 3 of Chapter 2 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the
security guard division of the Department of Public Safety, is amended by revising Code
Section 35-2-73, relating to security guards for protection of Governor, Lieutenant Governor,
Speaker of the House, and their families and executive department and transportation of
family members at state expense, as follows:
"35-2-73.
(a) The commissioner shall be authorized to employ such number of security guards as
may be necessary to keep watch over and protect the Governor and members of his <ins>or her
</ins> immediate family, the Lieutenant Governor and members of his <ins>or her</ins> immediate family,
the Speaker of the House of Representatives and members of his <ins>or her</ins> immediate family,
<ins>the majority leader of the Senate and his or her immediate family, the minority leader of
the Senate and his or her immediate family, the majority leader of the House of
Representatives and his or her immediate family, the minority leader of the House of
Representatives and his or her immediate family,</ins> the executive department at the state
capitol or at any other place as the executive department may be moved, the executive
center or other residence of the Governor, the residences and offices of the Lieutenant
Governor, <del>and</del> the Speaker of the House of Representatives, <ins>the majority and minority
leaders of both the Senate and the House of Representatives,</ins> and such other state property
and individuals as may be directed by the Governor.
(b) Members of the Governor's family, the Lieutenant Governor's family, <del>and</del> the Speaker's
family, <ins>and the families of majority and minority leaders of both the Senate and the House
of Representatives</ins> for whom protection is provided by the Security Guard Division, when
traveling with the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, <del>or</del> the Speaker, <ins>or the majority or
minority leaders of either the Senate or the House of Representatives,</ins> as the case may be,
when traveling on state related business at the request of the Governor, the Lieutenant
Governor, <del>or</del> the Speaker, <ins>or the majority or minority leaders of both the Senate and the
House of Representatives,</ins> as the case may be, or when in the judgment of the
commissioner security considerations so dictate, may be transported by means of state
owned transportation facilities, when appropriate, or at state expense by private carrier,
when the use of such state owned facilities are not practical or appropriate.
<ins>(c) The commissioner shall be authorized to employ such number of security guards as
may be necessary to keep watch over and protect any member of the General Assembly,
</ins>
<ins>and such member's immediate family, if the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has
determined that such member is subject to a credible threat to his or her safety or security.
Such watch over and protection shall be provided to such members of the General
Assembly in the same manner as provided for in subsections (a) and (b) of this Code
section."
</ins> SECTION 2.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law
without such approval.
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.

A Georgia House bill would let the Department of Public Safety provide state security guards to the Senate and House majority and minority leaders and their families, and to any legislator facing a credible safety threat.

### Plain-language summary

Under current Georgia law, the Department of Public Safety's security guard division protects the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House, along with their immediate families, and can transport those families at state expense when traveling with them on state business. This bill expands that protection to the majority and minority leaders of both the Senate and the House of Representatives and their immediate families, covering them the same way.
The bill also adds a new provision covering any member of the General Assembly, not just leadership, if the Georgia Bureau of Investigation determines that member faces a credible threat to his or her safety or security. In that case, the commissioner of public safety could assign guards to protect the member and their immediate family using the same rules that apply to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it becomes law without a signature.

### What it does

- Extends state security guard protection currently given to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House to also cover the Senate and House majority and minority leaders.
- Extends that same protection to the immediate families of the Senate and House majority and minority leaders.
- Allows state-funded transportation for the leaders' families when traveling with them on state business, matching the existing rule for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor's families.
- Creates a new option for the commissioner of public safety to assign security guards to any legislator, and that legislator's immediate family, once the Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirms a credible threat.
- Applies the same protection rules used for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker to these newly covered legislators and threatened members.

### Who it affects

The bill directly affects the Senate and House majority and minority leaders and their immediate families, who would gain access to state security guards. It also affects any individual member of the General Assembly who is found to face a credible threat, along with the Department of Public Safety and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which would help determine such threats.

### Why it matters

If enacted, more of Georgia's top legislative leaders and their families would receive state-funded security protection and transportation, and any lawmaker facing a documented threat could also get guards. This could increase demands on the Department of Public Safety's security guard division and its budget.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 35-2-73(a) to add the Senate and House majority and minority leaders and their immediate families to the list of people the commissioner may assign security guards to protect.
- Section 1 revises subsection (b) so the families of these leaders can be transported by state vehicles or, when impractical, by private carrier at state expense while traveling with the leaders on state business.
- Section 1 adds a new subsection (c) letting the commissioner protect any General Assembly member and their immediate family if the Georgia Bureau of Investigation determines the member faces a credible threat to safety or security.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it otherwise becomes law without a signature.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting state laws.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2026-01-16)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-01-28)
- Sponsors: David Wilkerson, Lisa Campbell, Esther Panitch, Dar'shun Kendrick, Ruwa Romman, Karen Lupton
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72299

> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1004.md?full=1