HB 384: Crimes and offenses; uniform oaths to be sworn by all peace officers; provide

Currently Georgia law criminalizes a public officer's willful violation of their oath of office, but oaths for peace officers have not been fully uniform, and it has been unclear whether extra, aspirational language added to an oath could carry legal weight. This bill rewrites the oath violation crime (O.C.G.A. § 16-10-1) so that peace officers can only be prosecuted for violating the specific oath or oaths described in O.C.G.A. §§ 15-16-4 and 45-3-7, and only when the violation involves a felony or a high and aggravated misdemeanor. The bill also rewrites O.C.G.A. § 45-3-7 to create a standard oath that all peace officers taking office on or after July 1, 2025 must swear, covering support for state law, local ordinances they enforce, and the U.S. and Georgia Constitutions. Agencies may add extra language to oaths, but the bill declares any such extra wording purely aspirational and legally unenforceable in civil or criminal cases. The same aspirational limit applies to sheriffs and deputies taking the oath under O.C.G.A. § 15-16-4.

• Creates a uniform statewide oath text that all peace officers taking office on or after July 1, 2025 must swear, covering state law, local ordinances, and the state and federal constitutions.
• Limits prosecution of peace officers for violating their oath to violations of the specific oath language set out in O.C.G.A. §§ 15-16-4 and 45-3-7, not any extra wording agencies add.
• Requires that any oath violation prosecution be based on conduct that amounts to a felony or a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.
• Declares that any additional oath language beyond the codified standard oath is aspirational only and has no legal effect in civil or criminal proceedings.
• Applies the same aspirational-language limit to sheriffs and deputy sheriffs taking the oath under O.C.G.A. § 15-16-4.

Peace officers statewide, including police officers, sheriffs, and deputy sheriffs, who must take the new standardized oath starting July 1, 2025. Law enforcement agencies that administer oaths and prosecutors who bring oath-violation charges under O.C.G.A. § 16-10-1 are also directly affected.

Peace officers would face a narrower, more predictable standard for oath-violation prosecutions tied to specific statutory language and serious underlying misconduct, rather than broader or agency-added oath wording, changing how such cases could be charged and defended.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 16-10-1 to limit peace officer oath-violation prosecutions to the oaths prescribed in O.C.G.A. §§ 15-16-4 and 45-3-7.
• Section 1 also requires that any oath-violation prosecution be predicated on a felony or a high and aggravated misdemeanor.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 45-3-7 to set a uniform oath text for peace officers taking office on or after July 1, 2025.
• Section 2 allows agencies to add extra oath language but labels it aspirational only, with no legal effect in civil or criminal proceedings.
• Section 2 extends the same aspirational-language limit to sheriffs and deputies swearing the oath under O.C.G.A. § 15-16-4.
• Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
2. 2025-03-21Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
3. 2025-03-20Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
4. 2025-03-10Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
5. 2025-03-06House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
6. 2025-03-06House Third Readers (House)
7. 2025-03-06House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
8. 2025-02-13House Second Readers (House)

• Devan Seabaugh (R, HD-34)Primary sponsor
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-99)
• John Carson (R, HD-46)
• Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
• Tim Fleming (R, HD-114)
• Houston Gaines (R, HD-120)
• John Albers (R, SD-56)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2025

   171 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 7 excused)

   PASSAGE: House Vote #242

• peace officers
• police oath of office
• criminal law
• sheriffs and deputies
• government accountability