Georgia CommonsHouse · Engrossed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HR 128: Watkins, Mr. Joseph Samuel; compensate
Last action March 10, 2025 · Senate Read and Referred
House Resolution 128 directs the state to pay a combined roughly $7.6 million to five men, including Joseph Samuel Watkins, who were wrongfully convicted and later exonerated in Georgia criminal cases.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the resolution 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 has no general law compensating people who are wrongfully convicted and imprisoned; lawmakers instead pass individual resolutions like this one. HR 128 compensates five men in five separate parts: Joseph Samuel Watkins (convicted of murder, exonerated in 2023 after evidence of juror misconduct and mismatched bullet evidence), Daryl Lee Clark (convicted of murder, exonerated in 2022 after a witness recanted and a translation error was uncovered), Michael Woolfolk and Mario Stinchcomb (convicted of murder and aggravated assault, both cleared in 2021 after a missing witness was found and supported a self-defense account), and Sedrick Moore (convicted of rape and armed robbery, exonerated in 2023 after new DNA testing failed to match him). Each man is awarded a specific dollar amount, paid partly as an upfront lump sum and the rest through a ten-year annuity starting in 2026. Each must sign a waiver releasing all claims against the state, cannot have a pending lawsuit against the state, and the payments are exempt from state income tax.
What the bill does
- Directs the Department of Administrative Services to pay set lump sums to five exonerated men: $1,688,527.40 to Watkins, $1,917,128.00 to Clark, $1,350,000.00 to Woolfolk, $975,000.00 to Stinchcomb, and $1,691,280.00 to Moore.
- Requires each man to sign a release and waiver giving up all past, present, and future claims against the state before receiving payment.
- Bars payment to any of the five if they have a lawsuit pending against the state seeking compensation for the same wrongful conviction.
- Structures each payment as an initial lump sum followed by a ten-year annuity in equal monthly installments starting in 2026, with interest.
- Exempts the compensation payments from Georgia state income tax.
- States that if any recipient dies, remaining annuity payments continue to his estate or heirs, but no estate or representative can seek payment on his behalf beforehand.
Who it affects
The five named exonerated men (Joseph Samuel Watkins, Daryl Lee Clark, Michael Woolfolk, Mario Stinchcomb, and Sedrick Moore) and their heirs; the Department of Administrative Services, which must issue the payments; and the State of Georgia, which is released from further legal claims tied to these convictions.
Why it matters
Because Georgia has no standing law compensating the wrongfully convicted, each exonerated person must wait for the legislature to pass an individual resolution like this one to receive any payment, and the amount, timing, and conditions vary case by case rather than following a uniform standard.
Key provisions
- Part I compensates Joseph Samuel Watkins with $1,688,527.40, tied to a 2022 Georgia Supreme Court ruling finding juror misconduct caused him actual prejudice.
- Part II compensates Daryl Lee Clark with $1,917,128.00 after a key witness recanted her testimony and a sign language translation error was later discovered.
- Part III and Part IV compensate Michael Woolfolk ($1,350,000.00) and Mario Stinchcomb ($975,000.00) respectively, both tied to a previously unavailable witness whose testimony supported a self-defense claim.
- Part V compensates Sedrick Moore with $1,691,280.00 after new DNA testing failed to support the match used to convict him.
- Each part requires a signed release and waiver of claims against the state before payment, and bars payment if a state or federal lawsuit over the same conviction is pending.
- Each award is split into an initial lump sum followed by a ten-year annuity in equal monthly installments beginning in 2026, and is excluded from state taxable income.
From the bill
“Georgia is one of only eleven states that does not have a statutory regime for compensating innocent individuals who have been exonerated following wrongful conviction and incarceration”
“the state habeas court granted the habeas corpus petition, overturning Mr. Watkins's convictions, and granting him a new trial”
“No estate of or personal representative for Mr. Watkins shall be entitled to requisition or otherwise seek compensation on behalf of Mr. Watkins.”
Status timeline
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Katie Dempsey (R, HD-13)
- Matt Barton (R, HD-5)
- Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-12)
- Omari Crawford (D, HD-89)
Votes
- House voteMarch 6, 2025
151 yea, 12 nay (4 not voting, 13 excused)
Topics
- wrongful conviction compensation
- criminal justice
- exoneration
- state compensation payments
- Floyd County cases