Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 222: Criminal procedure; inclusion of certain contact information on bonds and recognizances; require
Last action July 1, 2025 · Effective Date
House Bill 222 would require Georgia criminal bail bonds to list the full name, mailing address, email address, and phone number of the defendant and each surety.
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 Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Under current Georgia law, a bond or recognizance used to secure someone's appearance in a criminal case only had to include the mailing address of the defendant (called the principal) and any surety, the person or company backing the bond. House Bill 222 rewrites this section of Georgia's bond law (O.C.G.A. § 17-6-73) to add more required contact details. The bill requires every bond or recognizance to legibly list the full name of the principal and each surety, along with their mailing address, email address, and phone number. The change applies to bonds used in criminal proceedings statewide. The bill also repeals any conflicting laws, a standard closing provision.
What the bill does
- Requires bonds and recognizances in Georgia criminal cases to list the full legal name of the principal and each surety.
- Adds a new requirement that the mailing address of the principal and each surety appear on the bond.
- Creates a first-time requirement to include the email address of the principal and each surety on the bond.
- Creates a first-time requirement to include the phone number of the principal and each surety on the bond.
- Requires all of this information to be entered legibly on the bond document.
Who it affects
Defendants in Georgia criminal cases who are released on bond, sureties (people or bail bond companies who guarantee a defendant's court appearance), courts, and law enforcement or court clerks who process and rely on bond paperwork.
Why it matters
With more contact information on file, courts and law enforcement would have additional ways to reach a defendant or surety if a court date is missed, potentially making it easier to track people down or verify their identity during bond proceedings.
Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 17-6-73, the code section governing what information must appear on a bond or recognizance in a criminal case.
- The revised section requires the full name of the principal and each surety to be listed, which was not explicitly required before.
- The revised section keeps the existing mailing address requirement and adds new requirements for email address and phone number.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard clause with no separate substantive effect.
From the bill
“Every bond or recognizance given to secure the appearance of any person in any criminal proceeding shall have entered thereon the following legible information”
“The email address of the principal and each surety; and”
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 254
- House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- House Sent to Governor (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Third Read (Senate)
- Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
- Senate Tabled (Senate)
Show full history (17 actions)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Shaw Blackmon (R, HD-146)
- Noel Williams, Jr. (R, HD-148)
- Bethany Ballard (R, HD-147)
- Anissa Jones (D, HD-143)
- Chuck Efstration (R, HD-104)
- Larry Walker, III (R, SD-20)
Votes
- House voteFebruary 26, 2025
169 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 6 excused)
- Senate voteApril 4, 2025
52 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 2 excused)
Topics
- criminal procedure
- bail bonds
- court records
- public safety