HB 1409: Domestic relations; revise mandated reporting of child abuse

Georgia law already requires certain professionals, such as doctors, teachers, and law enforcement, to report suspected child abuse. This bill would expand that list of mandated reporters to include firefighters and animal service workers such as animal control officers and humane society employees. It would also require the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) to build a website and model form for reports, let agencies use a secure web based reporting platform that meets certain security standards, and require training for anyone using such a platform. DFCS could not refuse to log a report simply because of how it was submitted, and the state would have to update its Child Welfare Policy Manual by January 1, 2027. The child abuse reporting changes would take effect July 1, 2027. A separate, unrelated section of the bill would require settlement agreements resolving harassment or discrimination claims against members of the General Assembly to be publicly disclosed, with the claimant's identity redacted, for claims made since January 1, 2019, while also confirming the General Assembly is otherwise exempt from Georgia's open records law. That section would take effect as soon as the Governor signed it, but the Governor vetoed the bill.

• Adds firefighters and animal service workers (animal control officers, humane society employees, animal cruelty investigators, and animal shelter personnel) to the list of people legally required to report suspected child abuse.
• Requires DFCS to create a website and model reporting form and allow mandated reporters to submit reports directly through the website or through an approved secure web based platform.
• Bars DFCS from refusing to log or process a report just because of how it was submitted, and requires reports to be screened using only the legal definition of abuse or neglect.
• Requires agencies to notify DFCS at least ten days before using a secure web based reporting platform and requires mandatory training for anyone who uses one.
• Directs the Department of Human Services to review and update its Child Welfare Policy Manual by January 1, 2027 to match the new reporting rules.
• Creates a new Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 28-1-18) requiring settlement agreements over harassment or discrimination claims against General Assembly members to be disclosed publicly, with penalties for officials who withhold them.

Mandated reporters such as doctors, teachers, counselors, and now firefighters and animal service workers; DFCS and its child welfare staff; military families through the family advocacy notification process; and, under the separate section, members of the General Assembly and anyone who has filed a harassment or discrimination claim against one.

If enacted, more professionals who interact with children, like firefighters and animal control workers, would be legally obligated to report suspected abuse, and reporters would gain a standardized online way to file reports that DFCS could not turn away. The harassment settlement disclosure rule would make some records about lawmakers' conduct public that are currently confidential.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 19-7-5 to add firefighters and animal service workers to the list of mandated child abuse reporters in subsection (c)(1).
• Section 1 requires reports to be made within 24 hours and sets out separate procedures for oral versus written or electronic reports, including new subparagraphs on secure web based platforms.
• New subsection (k) lets agencies designate one secure web based reporting platform if it meets federal security standards such as HIPAA, FBI CJIS policy, or the Georgia Technology Authority's technical standards.
• New subsection (l) requires mandatory reporting training for anyone using a secure web based platform, provided by DFCS or an approved outside organization.
• Paragraph (e)(5) requires DFCS to update its Child Welfare Policy Manual by January 1, 2027, and Section 2 makes the child abuse reporting changes effective July 1, 2027.
• Section 3 adds O.C.G.A. § 28-1-18, requiring public disclosure of harassment or discrimination settlement agreements involving General Assembly members (claimant identity redacted) for claims filed on or after January 1, 2019.
• Section 3 gives superior courts jurisdiction to enforce the disclosure requirement, allows attorney's fees for successful complainants, and sets misdemeanor penalties and fines up to $1,000 (rising to $2,500 for repeat violations within 12 months) for officials who withhold records.
• Section 3 also states the General Assembly and its members, staff, and offices remain exempt from Georgia's general open records law except for the specific disclosure created by this new section.

1. 2026-05-12Veto V7
2. 2026-05-12House Date Vetoed by Governor (House)
3. 2026-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-02House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
5. 2026-04-02Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
6. 2026-04-02Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2026-04-02Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
8. 2026-03-31Senate Tabled (Senate)

• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)Primary sponsor
• Holt Persinger (R, HD-119)
• Katie Dempsey (R, HD-013)
• James Hatchett (R, HD-155)
• Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)
• Karen Mathiak (R, HD-082)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2026

   166 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 10 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #685

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   39 yea, 10 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Motion To Table Remaining Legislation On The Rules Calendar: Senate Vote #912

3. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2026

   52 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 2 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #932

4. PassedHouse voteApril 3, 2026

   155 yea, 12 nay (7 not voting, 2 absent)

   Agree To Senate Substitute: House Vote #880

• child abuse reporting
• mandated reporters
• child welfare policy
• open records
• legislative transparency