HB 179: Appellate practice; digital recording of certain trial proceedings; provide

Under current Georgia law, felony trials and many other court proceedings must be reported by a human court reporter using shorthand or stenographic machines. HB 179 changes that by defining a new option called a 'digital recording system' (O.C.G.A. § 15-14-22), an electronic audio or audiovisual recording method approved through uniform court rules issued by the Supreme Court of Georgia with input from the relevant council of trial court judges. The bill still requires a court reporter for felony trials, post-indictment evidentiary hearings (except arraignments, guilty pleas, bond hearings, and hearings with no witness testimony), and any case where prosecutors have filed notice they will seek the death penalty. For other felony proceedings, misdemeanor trials, and civil cases in superior court, city courts, and the new Georgia State-wide Business Court, judges get discretion to use digital recording instead of a court reporter. The bill also updates rules for state courts, grand jury proceedings, and how digitally recorded proceedings get transcribed and certified. It takes effect January 1, 2026.

• Creates a legal definition for a 'digital recording system' as an approved method of recording court proceedings for later transcription (O.C.G.A. § 15-14-22).
• Keeps the requirement for a live court reporter in felony trials, most post-indictment felony hearings, and any death-penalty case, while allowing digital recording as an alternative in other felony matters.
• Gives trial judges discretion to use digital recording instead of a court reporter in misdemeanor trials and many civil cases, including in the Georgia State-wide Business Court.
• Requires that a digital recording is not treated as the official record unless it is later transcribed and certified by a court reporter under new rules in O.C.G.A. § 15-14-5.
• Allows district attorneys to use digital recording systems to record grand jury proceedings instead of, or alongside, a court reporter.
• Directs the Supreme Court of Georgia to adopt uniform court rules governing how digital recording systems are used, with input from councils representing the affected trial courts.

Georgia trial judges, court reporters, district attorneys, criminal defendants, civil litigants, and staff of superior courts, city courts, state courts, and the Georgia State-wide Business Court are all affected, since the bill changes how testimony and proceedings in their courtrooms get recorded and preserved for appeal.

If enacted, courts could rely on digital recordings instead of always needing a court reporter physically present, which could affect court costs, staffing, and how quickly and accurately transcripts are produced. Defendants and parties in serious felony and death penalty cases would still be guaranteed a human court reporter.

• Section 1-1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 5-6-41 to require court reporters for felony trials, most post-indictment felony hearings, and death penalty cases, while allowing digital recording for other felony, misdemeanor, and civil proceedings at judicial discretion.
• Section 1-1 adds new subsection (g) stating a digital recording is not the official record of a proceeding unless it is transcribed and certified under O.C.G.A. § 15-14-5(b).
• Section 1-2 amends O.C.G.A. § 9-14-50 to allow digital recording, in addition to court reporter transcription, of trials for people under sentence in state courts of record.
• Section 2-1 amends O.C.G.A. § 15-5A-14 to let Georgia State-wide Business Court judges use digital recording systems for cases, subject to the felony/death penalty limits in § 5-6-41.
• Section 2-3 amends O.C.G.A. § 15-12-83 to let district attorneys use digital recording systems for grand jury proceedings, with recordings and transcripts controlled by the district attorney.
• Section 2-6 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 15-14-5 to set rules for certifying transcripts prepared from digital recordings, requiring a certified court reporter to transcribe them accurately if one is requested.
• Section 2-7 amends O.C.G.A. § 15-14-22 to define 'digital recording system' and clarify that operating such a system is not the same as being a certified court reporter.
• Section 3-1 sets the effective date of this Act as January 1, 2026.

1. 2026-01-01Effective Date
2. 2025-04-30Act 23
3. 2025-04-30House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-04-04House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
6. 2025-04-02Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2025-04-02Senate Third Read (Senate)
8. 2025-03-27Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Tyler Paul Smith (R, HD-18)Primary sponsor
• Soo Hong (R, HD-103)
• Rob Leverett (R, HD-123)
• Stan Gunter (R, HD-8)
• Stacey Evans (D, HD-57)
• Brian Strickland (R, SD-42)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2025

   169 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 6 excused)

   PASSAGE: House Vote #172

2. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2025

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

   PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE: Senate Vote #390

3. PassedHouse voteApril 4, 2025

   167 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 8 excused)

   Agree to Senate Substitute: House Vote #412

• court reporters
• criminal trials
• appellate procedure
• digital recording in courts
• Georgia court rules