---
title: HB 1154. Criminal procedure; imposition of death penalty; include offense of trafficking of persons for labor and sexual servitude
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1154
cite_as: HB 1154, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1154
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1154.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1154/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72719
date: 2026-02-04
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1154.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1154
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-02
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- David Clark
- Tyler Smith
- Joseph Gullett
- Alan Powell
- Derrick McCollum
- Karen Mathiak
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1154/2025
upstream_id: 2104406
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- death penalty
- human trafficking
- criminal sentencing
- criminal procedure
---
# HB 1154. Criminal procedure; imposition of death penalty; include offense of trafficking of persons for labor and sexual servitude
## Text
House Bill 1154
By: Representatives Clark of the 100th, Smith of the 18th, Gullett of the 19th, Powell of the
33rd, McCollum of the 30th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Code Section 17-10-30 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
procedure for imposition of death penalty generally, so as to include the offense of
trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude; to provide for related matters; to provide
for applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Code Section 17-10-30 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to procedure for
imposition of death penalty generally, is amended as follows:
"17-10-30.
(a) The death penalty may be imposed for the offenses of aircraft hijacking or treason in
any case.
(b) In all cases of other offenses for which the death penalty may be authorized, the judge
shall consider, or he shall include in his instructions to the jury for it to consider, any
mitigating circumstances or aggravating circumstances otherwise authorized by law and
any of the following statutory aggravating circumstances which may be supported by the
evidence:
(1) The offense of murder, rape, armed robbery, trafficking of persons for labor or sexual
servitude, or kidnapping was committed by a person with a prior record of conviction for
a capital felony;
(2) The offense of murder, rape, armed robbery, trafficking of persons for labor or sexual
servitude, or kidnapping was committed while the offender was engaged in the
commission of another capital felony or aggravated battery, or the offense of murder was
committed while the offender was engaged in the commission of burglary in any degree
or arson in the first degree;
(3) The offender, by his the act of murder, armed robbery, or kidnapping, knowingly
created a great risk of death to more than one person in a public place by means of a
weapon or device which would normally be hazardous to the lives of more than one
person;
(4) The offender committed the offense of murder for himself or another, for the purpose
of receiving money or any other thing of monetary value;
(5) The murder of a judicial officer, former judicial officer, district attorney, solicitor,
or solicitor-general, or former district attorney, solicitor, or solicitor-general was
committed during or because of the exercise of his or her official duties;
(6) The offender caused or directed another to commit murder or committed murder as
an agent or employee of another person;
(7) The offense of murder, rape, armed robbery, trafficking of persons for labor or sexual
servitude, or kidnapping was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman in that
it involved torture, depravity of mind, or an aggravated battery to the victim;
(8) The offense of murder was committed against any peace officer, corrections
employee, or firefighter while engaged in the performance of his or her official duties;
(9) The offense of murder was committed by a person in, or who has escaped from, the
lawful custody of a peace officer or place of lawful confinement;
(10) The murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding, interfering with, or
preventing a lawful arrest or custody in a place of lawful confinement, of himself or
another;
(11) The offense of murder, rape, trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude, or
kidnapping was committed by a person previously convicted of rape, aggravated sodomy,
aggravated child molestation, or aggravated sexual battery; or
(12) The murder was committed during an act of domestic terrorism.
(c) The statutory instructions as determined by the trial judge to be warranted by the
evidence shall be given in charge and in writing to the jury for its deliberation. The jury,
if its verdict is a recommendation of death, shall designate in writing, signed by the
foreman of the jury, the aggravating circumstance or circumstances which it found beyond
a reasonable doubt. In nonjury cases the judge shall make such designation. Except in
cases of treason or aircraft hijacking, unless at least one of the statutory aggravating
circumstances enumerated in subsection (b) of this Code section is so found, the death
penalty shall not be imposed."
SECTION 2.
This Act shall be applicable to all offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026. It is the intent
of the General Assembly that the provisions of this Act shall not affect any prosecutions for
offenses committed prior to July 1, 2026, and such offenses may continue to be prosecuted
under prior law. Prosecutions for any violation of law occurring prior to July 1, 2026, shall
not be affected by the amendments made by this Act or abated by reason thereof.
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.
House Bill 1154 would add trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude to the list of crimes that can trigger Georgia's death penalty aggravating circumstances, applying to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 17-10-30) lists specific 'aggravating circumstances' that a judge or jury must consider when deciding whether to impose the death penalty in eligible cases. Currently those circumstances reference crimes like murder, rape, armed robbery, and kidnapping. This bill adds the offense of trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude to several of those aggravating circumstance categories, meaning that when a trafficking offense is linked to a capital case, prosecutors could point to it as a factor supporting a death sentence.
The bill also makes a small wording update, replacing gendered pronouns like 'his' with neutral or clarified language in a couple of spots, and adds 'solicitor' to the list of officials whose murder during official duties counts as an aggravating circumstance. The changes would apply only to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026; crimes committed before that date would continue to be prosecuted under the current version of the law.
### What it does
- Adds trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude to five of the statutory aggravating circumstances used in death penalty sentencing decisions under O.C.G.A. § 17-10-30.
- Allows a prior conviction for trafficking of persons to count as an aggravating circumstance if the defendant has a prior capital felony record involving trafficking.
- Adds 'solicitor' alongside solicitor-general and district attorney as officials whose murder during official duties is an aggravating circumstance.
- Updates some pronoun language in the existing statute from 'his' to gender-neutral or clarified wording.
- Limits the changes to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026, leaving earlier cases to be prosecuted under the law as it currently stands.
### Who it affects
Prosecutors and judges handling capital cases in Georgia, defendants charged with human trafficking offenses linked to murder or other capital crimes, and victims of trafficking whose cases could now factor into death penalty sentencing decisions in relevant prosecutions.
### Why it matters
If enacted, prosecutors could cite a defendant's trafficking-related conduct as grounds for seeking the death penalty in qualifying capital cases, potentially increasing the likelihood of a death sentence in cases involving both trafficking and a capital offense like murder, starting with crimes committed after July 1, 2026.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 17-10-30(b) to insert 'trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude' into aggravating circumstances numbers (1), (2), (7), and (11).
- Section 1 also adds 'solicitor' to the list of officials in circumstance (5) whose murder during official duties is an aggravating factor.
- Section 2 makes the changes apply only to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026, and preserves prior law for earlier offenses.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-02-02)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-02-04)
- Sponsors: David Clark, Tyler Smith, Joseph Gullett, Alan Powell, Derrick McCollum, Karen Mathiak
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72719
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1154.md?full=1