HB 268: Education; safety, health, and well-being of students and school communities; provide

This wide-ranging school safety bill, known in part as "Ricky and Alyssa's Law," requires every Georgia public school to install a mobile panic alert system linked to local 911 and first responders by July 1, 2026, and to procure detailed school mapping data for emergency use. It overhauls how student records, including discipline and juvenile justice history, are shared between schools, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Division of Family and Children Services, and law enforcement, setting strict deadlines for transfers and creating RESA "student affairs officers" to resolve disputes over withheld records. The bill also creates a grant program to help districts hire student advocacy specialists, requires evidence based suicide and youth violence prevention training for students and staff, mandates student-led violence prevention clubs, and directs the state to build a statewide anonymous reporting system by mid-2026. On the criminal side, it expands which juvenile cases go directly to superior court, creates new crimes of "terroristic threat of a school" and "terroristic act upon a school" with felony penalties, and updates the definition of aggravated assault. The law takes effect immediately upon the Governor's signature, with some provisions applying only to future offenses.

• Requires every public school to install a mobile panic alert ('Alyssa's Alert') linked to 911 and first responders, and to obtain detailed building mapping data, both by July 1, 2026.
• Rewrites rules for transferring student education and discipline records between sending and receiving schools, agencies, and law enforcement, with tight deadlines and dispute resolution through RESA officers.
• Creates a state grant program letting local school systems hire 'qualified student advocacy specialists' focused on student mental health and behavioral coordination.
• Requires evidence based suicide prevention and youth violence prevention training for students and staff, plus student-led violence prevention clubs and a statewide anonymous reporting app by July 1, 2026.
• Creates two new crimes, terroristic threat of a school and terroristic act upon a school, with penalties up to 40 years in prison for cases causing serious injury.
• Expands the list of juvenile offenses that go straight to superior court to include terroristic acts against schools and attempted murder, and removes a limit that restricted juvenile firearm aggravated assault cases to those involving public safety officers.

Public school students, parents, teachers, and administrators; local school districts and boards of education; the Department of Education, Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Department of Juvenile Justice, and Division of Family and Children Services; regional educational service agencies (RESAs); local law enforcement and 911 centers; and juveniles aged 13 to 17 facing certain criminal charges.

Georgians would see new alarm systems and mapping tools meant to speed police response to school emergencies, faster and more structured sharing of student records when children change schools, new mental health and violence-prevention supports in schools, and harsher, more clearly defined criminal penalties for people who threaten or attack schools.

• Section 1-1 requires each public school to implement 'Alyssa's Alert,' a mobile panic system integrated with Next Generation 9-1-1, by July 1, 2026.
• Sections 1-2 and 1-3 require schools to procure detailed, annually verified school mapping data and grant civil immunity to those creating or using it in good faith.
• Section 2-2 creates a Department of Education grant program reimbursing districts for hiring qualified student advocacy specialists, with duties set by the Department of Behavioral Health by December 31, 2025.
• Section 2-8 rewrites Code Section 20-2-670 to define 'critical records,' set strict timelines (often 3 to 5 business days) for transferring student records between schools, and create RESA dispute resolution for withheld records.
• Section 2-15 requires public schools serving grades 6-12 to provide at least one hour each of suicide awareness and youth violence prevention training per year starting in the 2026-2027 school year, and mandates a statewide anonymous reporting program by July 1, 2026.
• Section 2-21 directs the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to build an emergency alert response system and a secure statewide threat-alert database for schools.
• Section 3-5 creates the new crimes of 'terroristic threat of a school' and 'terroristic act upon a school,' with felony penalties up to $250,000 in fines and 40 years in prison if serious injury results.
• Section 3-2 adds terroristic acts upon a school and attempted murder to the list of offenses for which 13-to-17-year-olds are tried directly in superior court.

1. 2025-04-28Effective Date
2. 2025-04-28Act 17
3. 2025-04-28House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-09House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-03-31House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
6. 2025-03-31Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2025-03-31Senate Third Read (Senate)
8. 2025-03-28Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Holt Persinger (R, HD-119)Primary sponsor
• Chuck Efstration (R, HD-104)
• Houston Gaines (R, HD-120)
• Jon Burns (R, HD-159)
• Chris Erwin (R, HD-32)
• Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
• Bill Cowsert (R, SD-46)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2025

   159 yea, 13 nay (2 not voting, 6 excused)

   PASSAGE: House Vote #166

2. FailedSenate voteMarch 31, 2025

   25 yea, 29 nay (0 not voting, 2 excused)

   ADOPTION OF AMENDMENT #2 BY THE SENATOR FROM THE 41ST: Senate Vote #347

3. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2025

   45 yea, 9 nay (0 not voting, 2 excused)

   PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE: Senate Vote #348

4. PassedHouse voteMarch 31, 2025

   154 yea, 12 nay (3 not voting, 11 excused)

   Agree to Senate Substitute: House Vote #365

• school safety
• student records privacy
• juvenile justice
• suicide prevention
• school security technology