Georgia CommonsHouse · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 1282: Criminal procedure; offenses involving a victim under 16 years of age; include offense of aggravated sexual battery
Last action February 26, 2026 · House Committee Favorably Reported
House Bill 1282 would add aggravated sexual battery to the list of sex crimes against child victims that get an extended or unlimited window for prosecution under Georgia law.
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 the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 17-3-2.1) already lists certain crimes against victims under 16, such as rape, child molestation, and incest, where the statute of limitations (the deadline for filing charges) either pauses until the victim turns 16 or does not apply at all, depending on when the crime happened. Aggravated sexual battery was left off both lists. This bill adds aggravated sexual battery, as defined in O.C.G.A. § 16-6-22.2, to both parts of the law. For crimes committed between July 1, 1992, and June 30, 2012, the prosecution clock would not start until the child victim turns 16 or the crime is reported. For crimes committed on or after July 1, 2012, prosecutors could bring charges for aggravated sexual battery against a victim under 16 at any time, with no deadline. The bill repeals conflicting laws and does not state a separate effective date.
What the bill does
- Adds aggravated sexual battery (O.C.G.A. § 16-6-22.2) to the list of crimes against child victims covered by Georgia's tolling rule for crimes committed between 1992 and 2012.
- Adds aggravated sexual battery to the list of crimes against child victims for which there is no statute of limitations when committed on or after July 1, 2012.
- Leaves the existing rules for other listed crimes, such as rape, child molestation, and incest, unchanged.
- Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this change.
Who it affects
The change affects prosecutors and law enforcement agencies handling child sexual abuse cases, defendants accused of aggravated sexual battery against victims under 16, and child victims of that crime whose cases might otherwise have been barred by an expired filing deadline.
Why it matters
Without this change, prosecutors may be unable to charge someone with aggravated sexual battery against a child once too much time has passed, even if evidence surfaces later. Adding it to the list means such cases could be prosecuted whenever they come to light, similar to how rape and child molestation cases already work.
Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 17-3-2.1(a) to add aggravated sexual battery to crimes committed between July 1, 1992 and June 30, 2012 where the prosecution clock pauses until the victim turns 16 or the crime is reported.
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 17-3-2.1(b) to add aggravated sexual battery to crimes committed on or after July 1, 2012 for which prosecution 'may be commenced at any time' if the victim was under 16.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting Georgia laws, a standard closing provision.
From the bill
“is under 16 years of age on the date of the violation, the applicable period within which a prosecution shall be commenced under Code Section 17-3-1 or other applicable statute shall not begin to run until the victim has reached the age of 16”
“a prosecution may be commenced at any time.”
Discussed in meetings (5)
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.
House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, February 23, 2026
From 2:34:33 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair announced that HB 1282 would be moved to Wednesday afternoon. No presentation or debate occurred.
House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, February 25, 2026
From 1:42:23 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair initially announced that the bill was off the agenda, then immediately corrected that statement and said it remained scheduled. Later, the chair presented the bill, saying it would add aggravated sexual battery against victims younger than 16 to offenses prosecutable without a time limit when committed on or after July 1, 2012. For offenses committed between July 1, 1992, and June 30, 2012, the chair said the prosecution deadline would pause until the victim turned 16 or the offense was reported to law enforcement, a prosecutor or another government agency, whichever came first. The chair said efforts to determine why the offense had previously been omitted produced no clear answer. No substantive questions or opposing testimony followed. The committee approved the bill by voice vote without amendments; no numerical tally was announced.
House Rules Committee, March 6, 2026
From 0:50:44 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1282 would apply the extended prosecution rules, including no time limit, used for other serious offenses against children to aggravated sexual battery involving a victim under 16. Questions only clarified the bill's location in members' materials. No decision was recorded.
Status timeline
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Tyler Paul Smith (R, HD-18)
- Stan Gunter (R, HD-8)
- Soo Hong (R, HD-103)
- Mitchell Scoggins (R, HD-14)
- Steven Sainz (R, HD-180)
Topics
- child sexual abuse
- statute of limitations
- criminal prosecution
- sex crimes law
- victims under 16