HB 1398: Georgia Child Care Alternatives, Resources, and Education Act; Trixtian's Law; enact

Currently Georgia law sets a 72-hour window for bringing an arrested person before a judge but does not require pregnancy testing. This bill, called the Georgia Child Care Alternatives, Resources, and Education Act or Trixtian's Law, changes Georgia's arrest law (O.C.G.A. § 17-4-26) so that any woman not released on bond within 72 hours of arrest must be offered a urine pregnancy test, and a positive result must be considered in setting bail, which cannot exceed $100 unless she poses a significant threat to public safety. The bill also rewrites Georgia's inmate treatment law (O.C.G.A. § 42-1-11.3) to add a 'postpartum woman' definition covering the 12 months after birth, require judges to treat pregnancy or postpartum status as a mitigating factor at sentencing, and require judges to defer prison terms for pregnant women who pose no significant danger, putting them on probation instead until at least 12 weeks after birth. It sets reporting requirements for penal institutions starting January 1, 2027, restricts disclosure of pregnancy-related medical information, and bars that information from being used to prove criminal liability after that date.

• Requires jails to offer a urine pregnancy test to any woman not released on bond within 72 hours of arrest, unless she declines it.
• Caps bail at $100 for a woman with a confirmed positive pregnancy test unless she poses a significant threat to public safety.
• Requires judges to treat pregnancy or postpartum status as a mitigating factor when sentencing a woman.
• Requires judges to defer a pregnant woman's prison term until at least 12 weeks after childbirth in favor of probation, if she poses no significant danger.
• Makes it a crime under the willful failure to surrender statute (O.C.G.A. § 16-10-52) if a pregnant woman on this deferred probation does not surrender to the Department of Corrections as ordered.
• Restricts how pregnancy and postpartum medical information can be disclosed and bars its use to establish criminal liability after January 1, 2027.

Women who are arrested and jailed in Georgia, especially those who are pregnant or recently gave birth; sheriffs, jailers, and other custodians who run penal institutions; judges setting bail and sentences; probation and community supervision officers; and the Department of Public Health, which will receive new annual reports.

Pregnant women arrested in Georgia could avoid jail time immediately after birth and face a much lower bail if pregnant, while gaining specific protections against strip searches, restraints, and solitary confinement. Jails and courts would take on new testing, reporting, and supervision duties.

• Section 1-2 amends O.C.G.A. § 17-4-26 to require a urine pregnancy test for women held past 72 hours without bond and to cap bail at $100.00 for those testing positive absent a significant safety threat.
• Section 2-1 adds definitions for 'postpartum woman' (within 12 months of giving birth) and 'supervision officer' to O.C.G.A. § 42-1-11.3.
• Subsection (f) makes pregnancy or postpartum status a mandatory mitigating factor at sentencing.
• Subsection (g) requires courts to defer prison terms for non-dangerous pregnant women until at least 12 weeks after birth, placing them on probation with fee-free supervision by phone and required healthcare participation.
• Subsection (g)(2) makes willful failure to surrender after this probation period prosecutable under O.C.G.A. § 16-10-52.
• Subsection (h) requires each penal institution to report incarcerated women's and pregnant women's totals, and declined pregnancy tests, to the Department of Public Health starting January 1, 2027.
• Subsection (j) limits disclosure of pregnancy-related medical information and, after January 1, 2027, bars its use to establish criminal liability except through independently obtained evidence.

1. 2026-02-26House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-02-24House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-20House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-19House Hopper (House)

• Sharon Cooper (R, HD-045)Primary sponsor
• Lehman Franklin (R, HD-160)
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)
• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)
• Kasey Carpenter (R, HD-004)
• Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)

• pregnant inmates
• bail reform
• sentencing law
• jail policy
• women's health