HB 283: Motor vehicles; issuance of a refusal to sign citation; provide

Georgia law currently requires all law enforcement officers to have equipment capable of verifying a driver's license issued in electronic format by July 1, 2027. This bill extends that deadline to July 1, 2032, giving agencies more time to acquire the technology. The bill also changes how traffic citations work. Under current law, a person issued a citation must sign it to acknowledge receipt and their obligation to appear for trial; refusing can lead to being taken before a judge to post a cash bond. This bill makes signing optional instead of required, and changes the consequence of not signing so that a person appears for trial rather than posting a cash bond. If someone refuses to sign, the officer must write 'Refusal to Sign' on the citation and give it to the person, and may still bring them before a judicial officer or traffic violations bureau to post a bond as otherwise allowed by law.

• Extends the deadline for all Georgia law enforcement officers to acquire equipment that can verify electronic driver's licenses from July 1, 2027 to July 1, 2032.
• Changes citation law so that signing a traffic citation becomes optional (may) instead of mandatory (shall).
• Removes the requirement that refusing to sign a citation results in posting a cash bond, replacing it with a requirement to appear for trial.
• Requires officers to write 'Refusal to Sign' on a citation and hand it to the person when the person declines to sign.

Georgia law enforcement agencies and officers, who get more time to buy license-verification equipment and gain a new labeling duty on citations; and any driver stopped and issued a traffic citation, whose signing obligations and consequences for refusing to sign would change.

Drivers who decline to sign a citation would no longer automatically face a cash bond requirement, instead being told to appear for trial, though officers can still bring them before a judge or bond office. Police departments also get five more years before they must have technology to check digital driver's licenses.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-5-29(b)(4) to move the deadline for officers to acquire electronic license verification equipment from July 1, 2027 to July 1, 2032.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-13-2.1(a) to change citation signing from mandatory to optional for people issued citations under that chapter or Code Section 17-6-11.
• Section 2 removes the prior consequence of posting a cash bond for refusing to sign and replaces it with a requirement to appear for trial.
• Section 2 requires the officer to write 'Refusal to Sign' on the citation and give it to the person if they refuse to sign, before optionally bringing them before a judicial officer or bond office.
• Section 3 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-31Senate Tabled (Senate)
2. 2026-03-19Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
3. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
4. 2025-03-18Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
5. 2025-03-13Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
6. 2025-02-24Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
7. 2025-02-21House Passed/Adopted (House)
8. 2025-02-21House Third Readers (House)

• Yasmin Neal (D, HD-079)Primary sponsor
• Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-012)
• Scott Holcomb (D, HD-101)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 21, 2025

   155 yea, 6 nay (8 not voting, 11 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #63

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

• traffic citations
• driver's licenses
• law enforcement equipment
• motor vehicle law