--- title: HB 363. Crimes and offenses; criminal trespass; include religious worship and observance or acknowledging the death of an individual collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb363 cite_as: HB 363, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb363 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb363.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb363/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70125 date: 2025-02-12 status: introduced 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/hb362.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb364.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb363.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 363 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-02-10 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Deborah Silcox - Matt Reeves - Trey Kelley - Clint Crowe - Esther Panitch text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB363/2025 upstream_id: 1964510 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - criminal trespass - religious freedom - funeral protection - public safety law --- # HB 363. Crimes and offenses; criminal trespass; include religious worship and observance or acknowledging the death of an individual ## Text House Bill 363 By: Representatives Silcox of the 53rd, Reeves of the 99th, Kelley of the 16th, Crowe of the 118th, and Panitch of the 51st A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Code Section 16-7-21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to criminal trespass, so as to include gatherings for the purposes of religious worship and observance or acknowledging the death of an individual; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Code Section 16-7-21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to criminal trespass, is amended by adding a new subsection to read as follows: "(f) A person commits the offense of criminal trespass when he or she knowingly and without authority enters and remains upon the land or premises of another person and willfully and maliciously interrupts or disturbs any assembly of people met or convened for purposes of religious worship or observance or for purposes of acknowledging the death of an individual in such a manner that a reasonable person would conclude that the person who commits the act is a threat to the safety of any person so assembled." SECTION 2. 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 House bill would expand the state's criminal trespass law so that intentionally disrupting religious services or gatherings honoring a deceased person becomes a crime when done in a threatening way. ### Plain-language summary Georgia's criminal trespass law (O.C.G.A. § 16-7-21) currently covers things like entering someone's property without permission. This bill adds a new subsection making it a crime to knowingly enter and remain on someone else's property without authority and willfully and maliciously interrupt or disturb a gathering held for religious worship or observance, or a gathering meant to acknowledge someone's death, such as a funeral or memorial. The new offense only applies when the disruption happens in a way that a reasonable person would see as a threat to the safety of the people gathered. The bill does not change penalties elsewhere in the criminal trespass statute; it simply adds this new category of conduct. If passed, the change would take effect under the bill's general provisions repealing conflicting laws. ### What it does - Adds a new subsection (f) to Georgia's criminal trespass law (O.C.G.A. § 16-7-21) covering disruptions of religious gatherings and death-related gatherings such as funerals. - Makes it a crime to knowingly and without authority enter and remain on another person's property while willfully and maliciously interrupting such a gathering. - Limits the new offense to situations where a reasonable person would conclude the disruptor poses a threat to the safety of those assembled. - Repeals any existing laws that conflict with this new provision. ### Who it affects People who attend or hold religious worship services, funerals, or memorial gatherings on private property, and anyone who might enter such property intending to disrupt those events. Property owners hosting these gatherings and law enforcement handling trespass complaints are also affected. ### Why it matters Georgians attending church services, funerals, or memorials on private property would gain a specific legal protection against people who enter the property to threateningly disrupt those events, giving prosecutors a clearer criminal trespass charge to use in such cases. ### Key provisions - Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 16-7-21 by adding subsection (f), which defines the new criminal trespass offense. - The offense requires knowingly and without authority entering and remaining on another's land, plus willfully and maliciously interrupting a qualifying gathering. - The disturbance must be severe enough that a reasonable person would conclude the actor is a threat to the safety of those assembled. - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws but does not specify further effective date details. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-02-10) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-12) - Sponsors: Deborah Silcox, Matt Reeves, Trey Kelley, Clint Crowe, Esther Panitch - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70125 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb363.md?full=1