Skip to content
Georgia Commons
Menu

House · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session

HB 1128: State Board of Workers' Compensation; notice of eligibility for compensation to an injured employee to his or her legal guardian; provide

Last action July 1, 2026 · Effective Date

House Bill 1128 requires Georgia workers' compensation officials and law enforcement agencies to notify an injured employee's legal guardian, not just the employee, about eligibility for compensation, and opens a one-month window for certain brain-injured public safety officers to apply for indemnification.

Read the full bill text

These buttons carry the bill's own text, not the summaries below. Copy for LLM, View as markdown, and Send to AI use the Markdown version: the text as filed, then the summaries under a heading that names them as ours. View raw is the text alone.

The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.

In plain language

Current Georgia law requires the State Board of Workers' Compensation and local law enforcement agencies to notify an injured peace officer directly about their eligibility for the Georgia State Indemnification Fund and disability compensation programs. This bill adds the injured employee's legal guardian as someone who must also receive that notice, which matters for officers who are incapacitated and cannot act on their own behalf. The bill also creates a special one-month application window, from July 1, 2026 to August 1, 2026, for public safety officers (or their legal guardians) who suffered total permanent disability from organic brain damage in the line of duty on or before July 1, 2024, if the injury's recovery period kept them from applying within the normal deadline. Applicants must submit documentation proving they qualify. This new application option automatically repeals on July 1, 2030. The overall Act takes effect July 1, 2026.

What the bill does

  • Amends Georgia's workers' compensation notice law (O.C.G.A. § 34-9-26) to require the State Board of Workers' Compensation to notify an injured employee's legal guardian, in addition to the employee, about eligibility for compensation.
  • Amends O.C.G.A. § 35-1-24 to require local law enforcement agencies to notify a peace officer's legal guardian, along with the officer, about eligibility for the Georgia State Indemnification Fund and disability compensation.
  • Creates a new Code section (45-9-86.1) allowing a one-time application window between July 1, 2026 and August 1, 2026 for public safety officers with organic brain damage sustained on or before July 1, 2024.
  • Requires applicants under the new window to submit documentation proving the brain damage prevented them from applying within the normal deadline.
  • Sets an automatic repeal date of July 1, 2030 for the new application window provision.
  • Sets the effective date of the entire Act as July 1, 2026.

Who it affects

Peace officers and other public safety officers who are injured on the job, especially those incapacitated and unable to act for themselves, along with their legal guardians. The State Board of Workers' Compensation, the Department of Administrative Services, local law enforcement agencies, and the Georgia State Indemnification Fund are also directly involved in carrying out the notice and application requirements.

Why it matters

Officers with severe injuries, such as organic brain damage, often cannot personally receive or act on notices about compensation eligibility. By requiring notice to legal guardians and opening a special late-application window, the bill lets guardians pursue indemnification benefits on behalf of officers who missed normal deadlines because of their injuries.

Key provisions

  • Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 34-9-26(b) so the State Board of Workers' Compensation must notify an injured employee's legal guardian, not just the employee, of eligibility for indemnification and disability compensation programs.
  • Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 35-1-24(b) so law enforcement agencies must notify a peace officer's legal guardian within ten days of an injury that may cause permanent or temporary disability.
  • Section 3 adds new Code Section 45-9-86.1, creating a special application window from July 1, 2026 to August 1, 2026 for public safety officers with total permanent disability from organic brain damage suffered in the line of duty on or before July 1, 2024.
  • Section 3 requires that the brain damage impaired the officer's ability to apply within the normal deadline and requires supporting documentation.
  • Section 3 sets automatic repeal of the new application window on July 1, 2030.
  • Section 4 sets the Act's effective date as July 1, 2026.

From the bill

“the board shall notify the injured employee or his or her legal guardian of such belief”

Requires notice of eligibility for compensation to go to a legal guardian as well as the injured employee.

“a public safety officer or his or her legal guardian may submit an application for indemnification with respect to a claim for total permanent disability between July 1, 2026, and August 1, 2026”

Creates a limited one-month window for late applications tied to brain injuries suffered before July 1, 2024.

“This Code section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2030.”

Sets the new application window provision to automatically expire in 2030.

Discussed in meetings (14)

The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.

  1. House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, February 11, 2026

    From 0:52:35 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the bill would require notices about workers’ compensation or indemnification benefits to reach an incapacitated employee’s legal guardian as well as the employee. The sponsor said current notice requirements can leave families uninformed when an injured worker cannot manage legal or financial matters. The sponsor also described shared notification responsibility for employing law enforcement agencies and a one-time application window for officers with organic brain injuries sustained in the line of duty before July 1, 2024, whose incapacity prevented an application. The sponsor emphasized that the bill would not create new benefit categories or expand eligibility. Asked how many people might qualify, the sponsor said one individual was known, but agencies would be notified so others could apply during the 30-day window. In response to the chair’s question about earlier legislation, the sponsor said this measure adds guardian-notification requirements. The committee unanimously approved a do-pass motion.

  2. House Rules Committee, February 17, 2026

    From 0:32:02 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: Presenting the bill on behalf of the governor, the sponsor said it would provide a one-time opportunity for law enforcement officers with severe on-duty brain injuries to seek indemnification benefits when their injuries prevented a timely application. The sponsor also said it would require notification to injured officers and their legal guardians about eligibility. No questions or decision followed.

  3. House floor session, March 4, 2026 (legislative day 27, PM, part 2)

    From 1:00:48 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 1932

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1128 would help law enforcement officers whose catastrophic brain injuries prevented them from applying for benefits. The sponsor said it would require eligibility notices to reach an injured officer’s legal guardian as well as the officer and create a limited, one-time application window for qualified officers. The sponsor emphasized that it would not expand benefits or create a new program. There were no questions. The House passed the bill 158–0.

  4. House Rules Committee, March 4, 2026

    From 0:25:05 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 1929

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee placed HB 1128 on the supplemental calendar after a motion and second, with no objection. Members did not discuss its substance.

  5. Senate Judiciary Committee, March 16, 2026

    From 0:42:12 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1128, brought on behalf of the governor, would give certain law enforcement officers with organic brain injuries, or their legal guardians, another opportunity to apply for state indemnification benefits after missing the original deadline. The sponsor said the application window would run from July 1 through August 1, 2026, and believed only one applicant would qualify. The sponsor also said the bill would require notice to legal guardians about indemnification benefits, addressing a gap in existing notification requirements. The chair supported the change and described an earlier experience in which an injured officer and others did not know benefits were available. The committee unanimously recommended passage.

  6. Senate Rules Committee, March 20, 2026

    From 0:28:25 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor described the measure as a governor’s bill that would ensure injured public safety officers and their legal guardians receive notice of eligibility for workers’ compensation wage-replacement benefits. A member asked for the bill’s identity, which the sponsor repeated. No calendar decision was recorded.

  7. Senate Rules Committee, March 23, 2026

    From 0:27:07 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1128 would ensure injured public safety officers and their legal guardians are informed of the indemnity benefit after a catastrophic injury. No substantive questions were asked. A committee member later requested the bill for the floor calendar, and it was included in the package approved unanimously.

  8. Senate floor session, March 25, 2026 (legislative day 37)

    From 5:41:15 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Third Read)

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1128 would reopen the application window for state indemnification benefits for certain officers whose line-of-duty brain injuries prevented timely applications. The sponsor described a one-time window from July 1 to August 1 for eligible officers or their legal guardians and said only a few people were affected. The clerk also described notices to injured employees or their guardians about eligibility for compensation. No questions or opposition followed. The Senate passed the bill 49 to 0.

Status timeline

  1. 2026-07-01Effective Date
  2. 2026-05-06Act 415
  3. 2026-05-06House Date Signed by Governor (House)
  4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
  5. 2026-03-25Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
  6. 2026-03-25Senate Third Read (Senate)
  7. 2026-03-19Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
  8. 2026-03-18Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
Show full history (15 actions)
  1. 2026-03-06Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
  2. 2026-03-04House Passed/Adopted (House)
  3. 2026-03-04House Third Readers (House)
  4. 2026-02-12House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
  5. 2026-02-04House Second Readers (House)
  6. 2026-02-03House First Readers (House)
  7. 2026-02-02House Hopper (House)

Sponsors

  • Devan Seabaugh (R, HD-34)Primary sponsor
  • Matthew Gambill (R, HD-15)
  • Will Wade (R, HD-9)
  • Bill Werkheiser (R, HD-157)
  • Josh Bonner (R, HD-73)
  • Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
  • Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-32)

Votes

  1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2026

    158 yea, 0 nay (7 not voting, 12 excused)

    PASSAGE: House Vote #636

  2. PassedSenate voteMarch 25, 2026

    49 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 3 excused)

    PASSAGE: Senate Vote #808

Topics

  • workers' compensation
  • peace officers
  • disability benefits
  • Georgia State Indemnification Fund
  • legal guardianship

Ask about this bill

Answers come from this document. Not legal advice.

Machine-readable https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1128.md · https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md · MCP https://mcp.georgiacommons.org/mcp