Georgia CommonsHouse · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 434: Crimes and offenses; offense of selling a child for financial gain; provide
Last action April 4, 2025 · House Withdrawn, Recommitted
HB434 would move Georgia's existing ban on illegal payments in adoption placements out of the adoption code and into the criminal code as a new offense, without changing the underlying rules.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Comm Sub version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia law currently addresses improper advertising and payments tied to adoption placements in O.C.G.A. § 19-8-24, part of the state's adoption code (Title 19). This bill would repeal that section and move its substance, largely unchanged, into a new Code Section 16-12-6 in Title 16, the part of Georgia law dealing with offenses against public health and morals, meaning the rules on unlawful inducements in adoptions would now sit alongside other crimes. The bill also adds a clarifying provision saying that terms used in the relocated section carry the same meanings already defined in O.C.G.A. § 19-8-1, the adoption code's definitions section. It updates two other adoption statutes, on financial disclosures in adoption petitions and on court review of inducement violations, so their cross-references point to the new 16-12-6 location instead of the old 19-8-24. The changes are structural: they reorganize where the law lives and confirm it functions as a criminal offense provision, rather than rewriting what conduct is prohibited.
What the bill does
- Repeals O.C.G.A. § 19-8-24 in the adoption code and redesignates its text as a new Code Section 16-12-6 in the criminal offenses title.
- Adds a new subsection stating that terms in the relocated section mean the same as they do under the adoption code's definitions in O.C.G.A. § 19-8-1.
- Updates a cross-reference in O.C.G.A. § 19-8-13, on financial disclosures in adoption petitions, to point to the new 16-12-6 instead of the repealed 19-8-24.
- Updates a cross-reference in O.C.G.A. § 19-8-18, on court review of inducement violations during adoption hearings, to point to the new 16-12-6.
Who it affects
People involved in Georgia adoptions, including biological parents, adoptive parents, and their attorneys who must comply with rules on inducements and advertising; district attorneys who investigate suspected violations; and judges handling adoption petitions who rely on the renumbered statute.
Why it matters
By moving the ban on unlawful adoption-related payments into the criminal code, the bill signals it functions as a criminal offense rather than an adoption-procedure rule. Attorneys, courts, and prosecutors handling adoptions will need to reference the new section number, though the underlying restrictions themselves are not rewritten.
Key provisions
- Section 1 redesignates Code Section 19-8-24 as new Code Section 16-12-6 and repeals and reserves the old 19-8-24, keeping the same restrictions on advertising and unlawful inducements.
- Section 1 adds subsection (h) to the new 16-12-6, tying its terms to the definitions already in O.C.G.A. § 19-8-1.
- Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 19-8-13(c)(4) to reference the new 16-12-6 instead of 19-8-24 for reasonable biological mother expenses.
- Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 19-8-18(a)(3) to reference the new 16-12-6 for determining whether an inducement violation occurred during an adoption hearing.
- Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“All terms used in this Code section shall have the same meanings as defined in Code Section 19-8-1.”
Discussed in meetings (1)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House Judiciary Juvenile Committee, February 4, 2026
From 0:16:55 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 434 would move provisions on selling children from the adoption code into the criminal code, defining an offense involving financial gain and providing penalties and ways affected parties could bring legal claims. The sponsor said the change would help prosecutors seek proof of expenses without affecting legitimate adoption fees. One committee member, identifying as an adoption lawyer, said selling a child was already illegal and questioned who requested the change and why it was needed. The member asked whether Georgia had prosecuted anyone for selling a baby through adoption in the past five years. The sponsor said that required research. When the sponsor linked the proposal to increased trafficking, the member distinguished trafficking from adoption-related sales and questioned whether those sales had increased. A second member described an attempted fraudulent international adoption involving wire fraud and recalled conflicts between state and federal law. Members confirmed they were reviewing a substitute, but no changes were explained. The chair requested answers about the proposal's purpose and history, emphasized avoiding harm to legitimate adoptions, and tabled the bill for further discussion. No vote was taken.
Status timeline
- House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)
- Mandi Ballinger (R, HD-23)
- Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
- Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)
- Karen Mathiak (R, HD-82)
- Kimberly New (R, HD-40)
Topics
- adoption law
- criminal code changes
- child welfare
- legal definitions