---
title: HB 283. Motor vehicles; issuance of a refusal to sign citation; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb283
cite_as: HB 283, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb283
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb283.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb283/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69950
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 908
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb283.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 283
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-21
last_action: Senate Tabled
sponsors:
- Yasmin Neal
- Bill Hitchens
- Eddie Lumsden
- Scott Holcomb
- John Albers
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB283/2025
upstream_id: 1958404
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- traffic citations
- driver's licenses
- law enforcement equipment
- motor vehicle law
---
# HB 283. Motor vehicles; issuance of a refusal to sign citation; provide
## Text
The Senate Committee on Public Safety offered the following
substitute to HB 283:
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 date by which law enforcement officers shall acquire equipment
capable of verifying a driver's license issued in an electronic format; to provide for the
issuance of a refusal to sign citation; to provide for a penalty; to provide for related matters;
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 40-5-29, relating to license to be carried and exhibited on demand,
by revising paragraph (4) of subsection (b) as follows:
"(4) By July 1, 2027 2032, all law enforcement officers shall acquire equipment capable
of verifying a license issued in an electronic format."
SECTION 2.
Said title is further amended in Code Section 40-13-2.1, relating to signature on citations
required, effect of failure to sign, exemption for out-of-state drivers, and electronic capture
of signature, by revising subsection (a) as follows:
"(a) A person who is issued a citation as provided in this chapter or Code Section 17-6-11,
relating to display of driver's license in lieu of bail, shall may sign the citation to
acknowledge receipt of the citation and of his or her obligation to appear for trial. The
officer shall advise the person that signing the citation is not an admission of guilt and that
failure to sign will result in the person having to post a cash bond appear for trial. If the
person refuses to sign the citation, it shall constitute reasonable cause to believe that the
person will not appear at trial and the officer shall write 'Refusal to Sign' on such citation
and shall give the citation to such person. The officer may bring the person before a
judicial officer or traffic violations bureau to post a bond as is otherwise provided by law."
SECTION 3.
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 for HB 283 would push back to 2032 the deadline for police to get equipment reading electronic driver's licenses, and would make signing a traffic citation optional rather than mandatory.
### Plain-language summary
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.
### What it does
- 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.
### Who it affects
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.
### Why it matters
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.
### Key provisions
- 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.
## Status
- Status: Engrossed (2025-02-21)
- Last action: Senate Tabled (2026-03-31)
- Sponsors: Yasmin Neal, Bill Hitchens, Eddie Lumsden, Scott Holcomb, John Albers
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69950
> The history, votes, and amendments (908 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb283.md?full=1