HB 527: Domestic relations; creation and revisions of certain child abuse protocol procedures for cases of alleged child abuse; provide

Georgia law currently requires each county to set up a committee that writes a protocol for investigating and prosecuting child abuse cases, coordinating agencies like the sheriff, school board, and DFCS. HB 527 rewrites this system so protocol committees are organized by judicial circuit rather than by county, and puts the chief juvenile court judge (or an elected juvenile judge if there is no chief) in charge as chairperson instead of a chairperson elected by committee members. The bill adds new required committee members, including a sexual assault center director, a medical examiner in some cases, a CASA (court appointed special advocate) representative, and a local child abuse advocacy group representative. It moves the filing of protocols and annual reports from the Division of Family and Children Services and the Office of the Child Advocate to a new email address maintained by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which will then share copies with those other agencies. Committees must meet at least annually, file updated protocols by July 1, and certify compliance to the Council by December 31 each year, with noncompliant circuits reported to top state officials.

• Reorganizes child abuse protocol committees to be based on judicial circuits instead of individual counties.
• Makes the chief juvenile court judge of the circuit (or an elected juvenile judge if none) the committee chairperson, replacing the old system of an elected chairperson.
• Adds new mandatory committee members: a sexual assault center director, certain medical examiners, a CASA program representative, and a local child abuse advocacy group representative.
• Moves protocol and annual report filing from the Division of Family and Children Services and Office of the Child Advocate to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which forwards copies to those agencies.
• Requires committees to meet at least annually instead of twice a year, and to certify compliance to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council by December 31 each year.
• Allows a judge to hold an agency in contempt of court if it fails to participate on the protocol committee as ordered.

County sheriffs, DFCS offices, district attorneys, juvenile court judges, magistrates, school boards, mental health organizations, police chiefs, public health departments, child advocacy and sexual assault centers, medical examiners, CASA programs, and local advocacy groups involved in child abuse investigations and prosecutions across Georgia's judicial circuits.

Families and children involved in abuse investigations could see a more consistent, circuit-wide approach to how cases are handled, since committees would no longer be organized county by county. Agencies gain new mandatory participants and face contempt of court if they refuse to cooperate, and the state will now track which circuits fail to comply.

• Section 1 changes the basic organizing unit for protocol committees from counties to judicial circuits, removing the option to have separate committees per county.
• Section 1 names the chief juvenile court judge (or a juvenile judge chosen by peer vote) as committee chairperson, ending the prior member-elected chairperson system.
• Section 1 adds required committee members including sexual assault center directors, certain medical examiners, CASA representatives, and school police, and a local citizen advocacy group representative.
• Section 1 requires protocols and annual reports to be filed with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council by email rather than directly with DFCS and the Office of the Child Advocate.
• Section 1 changes the required committee meeting frequency from semiannual to annual and moves the annual protocol filing deadline from September 1 to July 1.
• Section 1 adds a requirement that committees submit annual compliance certifications to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council by December 31, with noncompliant circuits reported to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, House Speaker, and Chief Justice.
• Section 1 allows a chief superior court judge to hold a non-participating agency in contempt of court for failing to comply with an order to participate on the committee.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-26House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2025-02-21House Second Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-20House First Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-19House Hopper (House)

• Long Tran (D, HD-080)Primary sponsor
• Scott Holcomb (D, HD-101)
• Lisa Campbell (D, HD-035)
• Kasey Carpenter (R, HD-004)
• Shea Roberts (D, HD-052)

• child abuse investigations
• juvenile courts
• judicial circuits
• child protective services
• criminal justice reporting