Georgia CommonsHB 1398: Georgia Child Care Alternatives, Resources, and Education Act; Trixtian's Law; enact
Comm Sub version, the latest LegiScan holds · Last action February 26, 2026 · Introduced
The text as LegiScan holds it, read from the PDF the legislature publishes with its margin line numbers, running heads, and page footers removed. Line breaks are joined into paragraphs here; no word is changed.
Underlined words are what the bill adds to current law and struck-through words are what it removes, as the printed bill shows them.
The House Committee on Judiciary, Non-Civil offers the following substitute to HB 1398:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to arrest by law enforcement officers generally, so as to revise provisions relating to the arrests of pregnant women; to provide that women who have been arrested are offered pregnancy testing within a certain time of detention; to provide limitations on the use and disclosure of such information; to provide for bond; to provide for bond limitations; to amend Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to inmate policies, so as to revise provisions relating to the treatment during incarceration of pregnant and postpartum women; to provide for definitions; to establish certain sentencing requirements for pregnant and postpartum women; to provide for reporting; to provide for limitations on the use and disclosure of certain medical information; to provide for related matters; to provide for short titles; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
PART I
SECTION 1-1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ''Georgia Child Care Alternatives, Resources, and Education Act." This Act may also be known and may also be cited as "Trixtian's Law.''
SECTION 1-2.
Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to arrest by law enforcement officers generally, is amended by revising Code Section 17-4-26, relating to duty to bring persons arrested before judicial officer within 72 hours, notice to accused of time and place of commitment hearing, and effect of failure to notify, as follows:
"17-4-26.
(a) Every law enforcement officer arresting under a warrant shall exercise reasonable diligence in bringing the person arrested before the judicial officer authorized to examine, commit, or receive bail and in any event to present the person arrested before a committing judicial officer within 72 hours after arrest. The accused shall be notified as to when and where the commitment hearing is to be held. An arrested person who is not notified before the hearing of the time and place of the commitment hearing shall be released. (b)(1) Every woman arrested who is not released on bond within 72 hours of arrest shall be provided a urine pregnancy test, unless declined by the woman. The results of such test shall be used exclusively for determining appropriate healthcare and for the purposes set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection; provided, however, that such results shall only be disclosed for such purposes upon the woman's written consent and in compliance with any applicable state and federal laws regarding privacy, including, but not limited to, the provisions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, P.L. 104-191.
(2) If any urine pregnancy test yields a verified positive result, the judicial officer authorized to examine, commit, or receive bail shall consider such result as a factor in determining bail; provided, however, that bail shall not exceed the amount of $100.00, unless the woman poses a significant threat or danger to any person or to the public welfare."
PART II
SECTION 2-1.
Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to inmate policies, is amended by revising Code Section 42-1-11.3, relating to treatment of pregnant and postpartum female inmates, as follows:
"42-1-11.3.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Custodian' means warden, sheriff, jailer, deputy sheriff, police officer, or any other law enforcement officer.
(2) 'Immediate postpartum period' means the six-week period following childbirth unless extended by a physician due to complications.
(3) 'Officer in charge' means the individual who is responsible for the supervision of a penal institution.
(4) 'Penal institution' means any place of confinement for juvenile or adult individuals accused of, convicted of, or adjudicated for violating a law of this state or an ordinance of a political subdivision of this state.
(5) 'Postpartum woman' means a woman who is within 12 months after giving birth to a child, regardless of the outcome of such birth.
(6) 'Pregnant woman' means a woman whose pregnancy has been verified by a pregnancy test or through a medical examination conducted by a physician.
(7) 'Supervision officer' shall have the same meaning as the term 'probation officer' as set forth in Code Section 15-11-2, 'community supervision officer' as set forth in Code Section 42-3-1, 'private probation officer' as set forth in Code Section 42-8-100, or 'probation officer' as set forth in Code Section 42-8-100.
(6)(8) 'Woman' means a juvenile or an adult human female who is confined in a penal institution.
(b) A pregnant woman shall not be required to squat or cough during a strip search conducted by a custodian during the second or third trimester of pregnancy.
(c) A pregnant woman shall not be required to undergo any vaginal examination unless prescribed and performed by a licensed health care healthcare professional. (d)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and notwithstanding Code Section 42-5-58, a custodian shall not use handcuffs, waist shackles, leg irons, or restraints of any kind on a pregnant woman who is in the second or third trimester of pregnancy, in labor, or in delivery, or on a woman in the immediate postpartum period.
(2) A woman who is in the immediate postpartum period may only be restrained using wrist handcuffs with her wrists held in front of her body and only if there are compelling grounds to believe that such woman presents:
(A) An immediate and serious threat of harm to herself, staff, or others; or
(B) A substantial flight risk and cannot be reasonably contained by other means.
(3) If a custodian uses wrist handcuffs on a woman who is in the immediate postpartum period under an exception provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the circumstances for and details of such exception shall be documented within two days of the incident. Such information shall include the nature of the circumstances and the length of time of such use of restraints. The documentation shall be reviewed by the officer in charge and retained by the penal institution for reporting purposes.
(4) Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the use of medical restraints by a licensed health care healthcare professional to ensure the medical safety of a pregnant woman.
(e) A pregnant woman or woman who is in the immediate postpartum period shall not be placed in solitary confinement, in administrative segregation, or for medical observation in a solitary confinement setting; provided, however, that this shall not prevent the placement of such woman in a cell or hospital room by herself.
(f) At the time of sentencing a pregnant woman or postpartum woman, the court shall consider such pregnant or postpartum status as a mitigating factor in determining such sentence.
(g)(1) At the time of sentencing a pregnant woman, if the court's sentence includes a term of imprisonment and the court has determined that such pregnant woman poses no significant threat or danger to any person or to the public welfare, the court shall defer such term of imprisonment until at least 12 weeks after the birth of the pregnant woman's child. During such period of deferral, the court shall allow the pregnant woman to be supervised on probation for the length of her pregnancy and for at least 12 weeks but up to 12 months after the birth of her child, after which the woman shall surrender herself to the Department of Corrections, as ordered by the court. In addition to any terms and conditions of probation imposed by the court pursuant to Code Section 42-8-35, the court shall impose as a condition of probation that the pregnant woman make good faith efforts to maintain perinatal healthcare, treatment, and assessments and to participate in education and resource programs to the extent such programs are available in her community or through the Department of Human Services, and provide monthly verification of such participation to her supervision officer. The court shall allow such term of probation to be served without the payment of any fines, fees, and restitution and shall allow supervision to be conducted by phone or other electronic communications. The pregnant woman shall report the loss of her pregnancy for any reason to her supervision officer within seven calendar days of such loss.
(2) If a pregnant woman serving a term of probation fails to surrender herself to the Department of Corrections in accordance with paragraph (1) of this subsection, such pregnant woman may be prosecuted for a violation of Code Section 16-10-52 for willful failure to surrender.
(3) The court's jurisdiction during any term of probation ordered pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of this Code section shall be the same as set forth in Code Section 15-11-608 or 42-8-34, as applicable.
(4) Any time spent on probation by a pregnant woman shall be credited to the sentence or disposition imposed.
(h) Commencing January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, each penal institution shall report to the Department of Public Health:
(1) The total number of women who were incarcerated;
(2) The total number of pregnant women who were incarcerated; and
(3) The total number of women who declined urine pregnancy testing under paragraph (b)(2) of Code Section 17-4-26.
(i) The report provided pursuant to subsection (h) of this Code section shall exclude any information that could reasonably lead to the identification of any individual woman and shall comply with the provisions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, P.L. 104-191.
(j)(1) Any medical information, including, but not limited to, pregnancy testing and prenatal or postpartum healthcare information, provided by, or with the consent of, a pregnant woman or postpartum woman pursuant to this Code section or Code Section 17-4-26 shall only be disclosed for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this Code section and in compliance with any applicable state and federal laws regarding privacy, including, but not limited to, the provisions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, P.L. 104-191.
(2) On and after January 1, 2027, in no event shall any medical information, including, but not limited to, pregnancy testing and prenatal or postpartum healthcare information, provided by, or with the consent of, a pregnant woman or postpartum woman to a supervision officer or custodian pursuant to this Code section or Code Section 17-4-26 be admissible for the purpose of establishing criminal liability, except where such information is obtained independently through other lawful means. (f)(k) It is the intent of the General Assembly that a pregnant woman who is temporarily held in a county jail pending transfer to a state penal institution be transferred as expeditiously as possible. The Department of Corrections and a sheriff overseeing a county jail in which a pregnant woman is incarcerated shall make all reasonable efforts to facilitate such transfer. This subsection shall not apply to a pregnant woman who has been sentenced to a county jail by a judge."
PART III
SECTION 3-1.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.