HR 118: Woolfolk, Mr. Michael; compensate

Michael Woolfolk was convicted in 2004 of murder alongside Mario Stinchcomb in the 2002 shooting death of Jaketha Young, despite both men claiming self-defense. A witness who could have corroborated their account, Jamario Ford, was believed dead and did not testify at trial. Years later Stinchcomb found Ford alive, leading to new court proceedings, an evidentiary hearing ordered by the Georgia Supreme Court, and eventual exoneration for both men in 2021. Because Georgia has no general law compensating people who are wrongfully convicted, this resolution acts as a private bill to pay Woolfolk directly. It directs the Department of Administrative Services to pay him $1,350,000, with $445,500 paid up front and the rest placed in an annuity paid out monthly over ten years starting in 2026. The state can reduce what it pays if Woolfolk wins a separate lawsuit over the same events, and any money he receives would not count as taxable state income.

• Directs the Department of Administrative Services to pay Michael Woolfolk $1,350,000 as compensation for his wrongful conviction and imprisonment.
• Sets an initial payment of $445,500 with the remaining balance placed into a commercial annuity paid in equal monthly installments over ten years starting in 2026.
• Allows the state to reduce or offset its payment if Woolfolk later recovers damages from a lawsuit against a state official over the same wrongful conviction.
• Requires that any payments continue to Woolfolk's estate or heirs if he dies before the annuity is fully paid out.
• Excludes any money Woolfolk receives under this resolution from his taxable net income for Georgia state income tax purposes.

Michael Woolfolk, who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned, is the direct beneficiary. The resolution also involves the Department of Administrative Services, which must make the payments, and touches on the roles of the Fulton County District Attorney's Office and Fulton County Superior Court described in the case history.

Because Georgia lacks a general law compensating exonerated people, this resolution is the only path for Woolfolk to receive payment from the state for years lost in prison. It sets specific payment terms and tax treatment that would apply only to his case.

• The resolution recites the case history: Woolfolk's 2004 conviction, a missing witness whose testimony later surfaced, and the 2021 exoneration after a Georgia Supreme Court ruling ordering an evidentiary hearing.
• Authorizes and directs the Department of Administrative Services to pay Woolfolk a total of $1,350,000.
• Sets an initial payment of $445,500, with the remainder placed in an annuity paying equal monthly installments over ten years beginning in 2026.
• Gives the state a credit against its payment if Woolfolk recovers damages from a related lawsuit against a state official, minus his attorney's fees and costs.
• Continues annuity payments to Woolfolk's estate or heirs if he dies before payments are complete.
• Excludes the compensation from Woolfolk's taxable net income for state income tax purposes.

1. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
2. 2025-03-04House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
3. 2025-02-04House Second Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-03House First Readers (House)
5. 2025-01-30House Hopper (House)

• Stacey Evans (D, HD-57)Primary sponsor
• Tanya F. Miller (D, HD-62)
• Phil Olaleye (D, HD-59)
• Scott Holcomb (D, HD-101)

• wrongful conviction compensation
• exoneration
• criminal justice
• private resolution
• Fulton County