Georgia CommonsHB 1243: Criminal Justice Researcher Access to Data Act; enact
Last action February 10, 2026 · House Second Readers
House Bill 1243 would create a new legal pathway for vetted academic researchers to access Georgia criminal justice data, including some records normally shielded from public disclosure, while requiring the Attorney General to issue guidance for agencies by 2027.
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 Introduced version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Georgia's open records law (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70) already lets the public request many government records, but some criminal justice data, like details on arrests, probation, or prison discipline, is not required to be released publicly. This bill adds a new article to that law letting 'bona fide researchers,' meaning people or organizations with institutional review board approval and security protocols to protect sensitive data, request broader access to criminal justice data held by courts, police, prosecutors, and corrections agencies. Custodians of these records would have to share data on stops, arrests, charges, sentences, releases, probation and parole changes, and prison discipline with qualifying researchers, even if that data is not otherwise public. Agencies could charge reasonable fees to cover costs. The Attorney General must issue guidance to agencies on how to identify researchers and share data by January 1, 2027. Sharing data this way would not count as a public release, so agencies could still argue later that the same records are exempt from public disclosure.
What the bill does
- Creates a new article in Georgia's records law (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-170 et seq.) giving 'bona fide researchers' a legal path to request criminal justice data and records.
- Defines 'bona fide researcher' as someone who uses personal data only for research, gets institutional review board approval, and has security protocols to protect sensitive information.
- Requires custodians of criminal justice records to share data on arrests, charges, sentences, releases, probation, parole, and prison discipline with qualifying researchers, even data not normally public.
- Allows agencies to charge reasonable fees, not exceeding actual costs, for searching, retrieving, and copying the requested data, with discretion to waive fees.
- Specifies that sharing data with a researcher under this law is not a public release and does not waive an agency's ability to later claim the same records are exempt from public disclosure.
- Requires the Attorney General to issue guidance to criminal justice agencies by January 1, 2027, on identifying researchers and sharing data with them.
Who it affects
The bill affects criminal justice agencies such as courts, police departments, prosecutors, jails, and probation and parole offices, which would have to respond to researcher data requests. It also affects academic and other researchers seeking criminal justice data, and indirectly the people whose arrest, court, or corrections records could be shared with those researchers.
Why it matters
Researchers currently face legal barriers to accessing sensitive criminal justice records not covered by public disclosure rules. This bill would let vetted researchers obtain that data, potentially expanding studies on policing and corrections outcomes, while agencies gain new administrative duties and can charge fees to cover the work involved.
Key provisions
- Section 1 gives the bill its short title, the 'Criminal Justice Researcher Access to Data Act.'
- New Code Section 50-18-170 states legislative findings that researcher access to criminal justice data benefits public safety and research at low cost to taxpayers.
- New Code Section 50-18-171 defines key terms including 'bona fide researcher,' 'criminal justice agency,' 'criminal justice data,' 'institutional review board,' and 'records.'
- New Code Section 50-18-172 requires custodians to share specified categories of criminal justice data, including arrests, charges, sentences, and supervision changes, with bona fide researchers, and clarifies this sharing is not a public release.
- New Code Section 50-18-173 requires the Attorney General to issue implementation guidance to agencies by January 1, 2027, and allows agencies to charge reasonable fees for fulfilling requests.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“Bona fide researchers could conduct valuable research into criminal justice programs, practices, and outcomes, which would benefit public safety and serve the public interest”
“A release of criminal justice data, records, or information under this Code section is not considered a release of data, records, or information to the public for the purposes of Code Section 50-18-71”
“No later than January 1, 2027, the Attorney General shall issue guidance to assist criminal justice agencies in complying with this article”
Status timeline
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Scott Holcomb (D, HD-101)
- Todd Jones (R, HD-025)
- Carter Barrett (R, HD-024)
- Tanya Miller (D, HD-062)
Topics
- criminal justice data
- open records law
- criminal justice research
- government transparency
- law enforcement records