---
title: HB 267. Riley Gaines Act; enact
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb267
cite_as: HB 267, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb267
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb267.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb267/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69927
date: 2026-03-31
status: engrossed
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb266.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb268.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 840
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb267.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 267
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-27
last_action: Senate Tabled
sponsors:
- Josh Bonner
- Jan Jones
- Will Wade
- Ginny Ehrhart
- Sandy Donatucci
- Todd Jones
- Bo Hatchett
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB267/2025
upstream_id: 1955587
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- DUI laws
- vehicular homicide
- driver improvement programs
- court restitution
- traffic safety fees
---
# HB 267. Riley Gaines Act; enact
## Text
The Senate Committee on Judiciary offered the following
substitute to HB 267:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to motor vehicles and
traffic, so as to revise the authorized fee for driver improvement clinics; to provide for
instruction standards for DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs; to revise the
authorized fees relative to such programs; to require restitution for certain convictions of
homicide by vehicle in which the offense was caused by the operation of such vehicle under
the influence of alcohol or drugs; to provide for standards for such award amount; to provide
for related matters; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to repeal conflicting
laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to motor vehicles and traffic, is
amended in Code Section 40-5-83, relating to approval and operation of driver improvement
clinics, criteria for defensive driving courses, alcohol and drug courses, and driving under
the influence risk reduction programs, by revising subsections (a) and (e) as follows:
"(a)(1) The commissioner shall establish criteria for the approval of driver improvement
clinics. To be approved, a clinic shall provide and operate a defensive driving course.
Clinics shall be composed of uniform education and training programs consisting of six
hours of instruction designed for the rehabilitation of problem drivers. The commissioner
shall establish standards and requirements concerning the contents of defensive driving
courses, qualifications of instructors, attendance requirements for students, and
examinations. Approved clinics shall charge a fee of $95.00 $125.00 for a defensive
driving course, except that such clinics may charge different fees of their own choosing
if the person is not enrolling in such course pursuant to court order or department
requirement. No clinic shall be approved unless such clinic agrees in writing to allow the
examination and audit of the books, records, and financial statements of such clinic.
Clinics may be operated by any individual, partnership, or corporation. Nothing in this
paragraph shall be construed to affect in any way driving programs established for
purposes of insurance premium reductions under the provisions of Code Section 33-9-42.
(2)(A) No driver improvement clinic shall be permitted to use, adopt, or conduct any
business under any name that is like or deceptively similar to any name used by any
other driver improvement clinic, Georgia company, or Georgia corporation registered
with the Secretary of State. This subparagraph shall not prohibit the franchising or
licensing of any part or all of the name of a driver improvement clinic by the owner or
the rights thereof to another licensed driver improvement clinic.
(B) This paragraph shall not prohibit the franchising or licensing of any part or all of
the name of a clinic by the owner of the rights therein to another licensed driver
improvement clinic."
"(e)(1) The department is designated as the agency responsible for establishing criteria
for the certification of DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs. An applicant
shall meet the certification criteria promulgated by the department through its standards
and shall provide assessment component services and intervention component services.
A certified DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program shall require that a risk
assessment component be conducted prior to administering the intervention component
of such program. A certified DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program may
include a clinical evaluation component after an individual completes risk assessment and
intervention services. Only clinical evaluators licensed by the Department of Behavioral
Health and Developmental Disabilities shall be qualified to conduct clinical evaluations.
The department is designated as the agency responsible for establishing rules and
regulations concerning the contents and duration of the components of DUI Alcohol or
Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs, qualifications of instructors, attendance
requirements for students, examinations, and program evaluations. Qualified instructors
shall be certified for periods of four years each, which may be renewed, and instruction
shall be provided through in-person instruction or remote participation platforms utilizing
in-person instruction providers.
(2) Certified DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs shall charge a fee of
$100.00 for the assessment component and $235.00 for the intervention component
$395.00. An additional fee for required student program materials shall be established
by the department in such an amount as is reasonable and necessary to cover the cost of
such materials.
(3) No DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program shall be certified unless such
program agrees in writing to submit reports as required in the rules and regulations of the
department and to allow the examination and audit of the books, records, and financial
statements of such DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program by the department
or its authorized agent.
(4) DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs may be operated by any public,
private, or governmental entity; provided, however, that, except as otherwise provided
in this subsection, in any political subdivision in which a DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk
Reduction Program is operated by a private entity, whether for profit or nonprofit, neither
the local county board of health nor any other governmental entity shall fund any new
programs in that area. Programs in existence prior to July 1, 1990, which are operated
by local county boards of health or any other governmental entities shall be authorized
to continue operation. New programs may be started in areas where no private DUI
Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs have been made available in the political
subdivision.
(5) The Department of Corrections shall be authorized to operate DUI Alcohol or Drug
Use Risk Reduction Programs in its facilities where offenders are not authorized to
participate in such programs in the community, provided that such programs meet the
certification criteria promulgated by the Department of Driver Services. All such
programs operated by the Department of Corrections shall be exempt from all fee
provisions established in this subsection specifically including the rebate of any fee for
the costs of administration.
(6) No DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program shall be certified unless such
program agrees in writing to pay to the state, for the costs of administration, a fee of
$30.00 for each offender assessed, provided that nothing in this Code section shall be
construed to allow the department to retain any funds required by the Constitution to be
paid into the state treasury; and provided, further, that the department shall comply with
all provisions of Part 1 of Article 4 of Chapter 12 of Title 45, the 'Budget Act,' except
Code Section 45-12-92, prior to expending any such miscellaneous funds."
SECTION 2.
Said title is further amended in Code Section 40-6-393, relating to homicide by vehicle, by
adding a new subsection to read as follows:
"(e)(1) In addition to the penalties provided for in this Code section, the court shall order
any person 18 years of age or older convicted, under subsection (a) or (d) of this Code
section, of causing the death of another person through a violation of subsection (a) of
Code Section 40-6-391 to make restitution pursuant to Article 1 of Chapter 14 of Title 17
when the deceased person was the parent or guardian of a minor child. Such restitution
shall be in the form of financial assistance to each minor child of the deceased person
until the earlier date of when such child reaches the age of 18 or graduates from high
school. In making a determination of the appropriate amount of financial assistance for
a child, the court shall consider:
(A) The financial resources and needs of the child;
(B) The financial resources and needs of the surviving parent or guardian of the child,
which may include the state if the child is in the protective custody of the Division of
Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services;
(C) The standard of living to which the child is accustomed;
(D) The physical and emotional condition of the child and the child's educational
needs;
(E) The child's physical and legal custody arrangements; and
(F) The reasonable work related child care expenses of the surviving parent or
guardian.
(2) Restitution made pursuant to this subsection shall not preclude any party from
obtaining any other civil or criminal remedy available under any other provision of law."
SECTION 3.
This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2026, and shall apply to offenses committed on
or after that date.
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia Senate substitute to HB 267 would raise fees for driver improvement clinics and DUI risk reduction programs, allow remote DUI instruction, and require restitution payments to the children of victims killed by drunk or drugged drivers.
### Plain-language summary
This bill rewrites parts of Georgia's motor vehicle law dealing with driver safety programs and DUI cases. It raises the fee that approved driver improvement clinics can charge for a defensive driving course from $95 to $125, and combines the separate assessment and intervention fees for DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs (the classes offenders take after a DUI) into a single $395 fee. It also allows those DUI programs to be taught through remote participation platforms as long as an in-person instruction provider is involved, not just in a classroom.
The bill also adds a new requirement for homicide by vehicle cases. If someone 18 or older is convicted of killing another person while driving under the influence, and the victim was the parent or guardian of a minor child, the court must order restitution paid to that child until age 18 or high school graduation. The bill lists factors, like the child's financial needs and living standard, that courts must weigh in setting the amount. The changes would take effect July 1, 2026, for offenses committed on or after that date.
### What it does
- Raises the fee approved driver improvement clinics can charge for a defensive driving course from $95 to $125.
- Combines the separate $100 assessment fee and $235 intervention fee for DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs into one $395 fee.
- Allows DUI risk reduction program instruction to be delivered remotely through platforms that use in-person instruction providers, not only in a physical classroom.
- Requires courts to order restitution for minor children when a person is convicted of killing the child's parent or guardian through DUI-related vehicular homicide.
- Lists specific factors, such as the child's financial needs and standard of living, that judges must consider when setting the restitution amount.
- Sets the effective date as July 1, 2026, applying only to offenses committed on or after that date.
### Who it affects
People required to attend driver improvement clinics or DUI risk reduction programs after a traffic offense, the private and public entities that operate those programs, judges and courts handling vehicular homicide cases, and the surviving minor children of parents killed in DUI-related crashes.
### Why it matters
Drivers ordered into these programs would pay more out of pocket, while programs gain flexibility to offer remote classes. Separately, children who lose a parent to a DUI-related vehicular homicide would gain a legal path to court-ordered financial support from the person convicted, on top of any other civil remedies.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-5-83(a) to raise the defensive driving course fee from $95 to $125 for court-ordered or department-required enrollees.
- Section 1 also amends § 40-5-83(e) to replace the separate $100 assessment and $235 intervention fees for DUI risk reduction programs with a single $395 fee.
- Section 1 permits DUI program instruction via remote participation platforms as long as in-person instruction providers are used.
- Section 2 adds a new subsection (e) to O.C.G.A. § 40-6-393 requiring restitution for minor children when a parent or guardian is killed by a DUI driver convicted under the homicide by vehicle statute.
- Section 2 directs courts to weigh factors like the child's financial resources, living standard, physical and emotional condition, and custody arrangements when setting restitution.
- Section 2 clarifies that this restitution does not block the child or family from pursuing other civil or criminal remedies.
- Section 3 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026, applying only to offenses committed on or after that date.
## Status
- Status: Engrossed (2025-02-27)
- Last action: Senate Tabled (2026-03-31)
- Sponsors: Josh Bonner, Jan Jones, Will Wade, Ginny Ehrhart, Sandy Donatucci, Todd Jones, Bo Hatchett
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69927
> The history, votes, and amendments (840 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb267.md?full=1