House Resolution 1703
By: Representatives Gunter of the 8th, Smith of the 18th, Leverett of the 123rd, Panitch of the
51st, Holcomb of the 101st, and others
A RESOLUTION
Creating the House Study Committee on Criminal Post-Conviction Litigation; and for other
purposes.
WHEREAS, pursuant to the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and
Article I, Section I, Paragraph XIV of the Georgia Constitution, all persons charged with a
crime are guaranteed the right to counsel; and
WHEREAS, a violation of that right occurs when counsel's performance was deficient and
that counsel's deficient performance prejudiced the accused's defense, see Strickland v.
Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687 (1984); and
WHEREAS, in Simpson v. State, 250 Ga. 365, 367 (1982), the Georgia Supreme Court held
ineffectiveness claims should be raised in a motion for new trial; or as held in Glover v.
State, 266 Ga. 183, 184 (1996), ineffectiveness claims should be raised before appeal if the
opportunity to do so is available; and
WHEREAS, as a result of these cases, new counsel must be appointed to litigate the motion
for new trial, as trial counsel cannot litigate their own ineffectiveness because there is an
ethical prohibition against a lawyer acting also as a witness when presenting a claim of
ineffective assistance of counsel concerning the trial which he or she, himself or herself, had
conducted, see Garland v. State, 283 Ga. 201 (2008); and
WHEREAS, when the matter concerns a defendant who was represented by a public
defender in this state, the new counsel cannot come from the same circuit public defender's
office that handled the trial, see In re Formal Advisory Opinion 10-1, 293 Ga. 397 (2013);
and
WHEREAS, as a result of these appointments, time is needed for new counsel to become
acclimated with the case and this needed time regularly causes years-long delays before the
motion for new trial is resolved; and
WHEREAS, the Georgia Supreme Court in Owens v. State, 303 Ga. 254 (2018), expressed
extreme concern at the many cases taking years, and sometimes decades, between a motion
for new trial being filed and being adjudicated and as a result formulated and adopted
Uniform Superior Court Rule 39.1 on January 1, 2019; and
WHEREAS, Rule 39.1 requires superior courts to provide the Georgia Supreme Court with
a semi-annual list of all felony cases either pending judgment on a motion for new trial or
transmission of a record on appeal in such superior court; and
WHEREAS, the lists provided to the Georgia Supreme Court contain many cases that have
motions for new trial in need of resolution; and
WHEREAS, the current system of raising ineffective assistance of counsel claims as a part
of the original appeal from the criminal conviction is inefficient, imposes unnecessary delays
in resolving original appeals, has greatly complicated the provision of counsel for indigent
defendants, and makes Georgia an outlier compared to other states and the federal
government; and
WHEREAS, Chief Justice Nels Peterson issued a recent concurring opinion joined by six
other justices in which he wrote of the current system, "Georgia's post-conviction litigation
system is a mess. It's a mess in large part because of a series of well-meaning but
short-sighted decisions this Court made over the course of several decades." Sanders v.
State, No. S26A0222, 2026 Ga. LEXIS 75, at *3 (Mar. 3, 2026); and
WHEREAS, the Chief Justice ended his concurring opinion by stating, "In short, the system
is broken. We did a lot of the breaking. But it will require legislative action to fix it."
Sanders v. State, No. S26A0222, 2026 Ga. LEXIS 75, at *8 (Mar. 3, 2026).
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
(1) Creation of House study committee. There is created the House Study Committee
on Criminal Post-Conviction Litigation.
(2) Members and officers.
(A) The committee shall be composed of twelve members.
(B) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint five members of the
committee as follows:
(i) One member shall be the chairperson of the House Committee on Judiciary;
(ii) One member shall be the chairperson of the House Committee on Judiciary,
Non-Civil;
(iii) One member shall be the chairperson of the Judicial Subcommittee for the House
Committee on Appropriations; and
(iv) Two members of the House of Representatives.
(C) The Speaker shall also appoint an additional seven nonlegislative members of the
committee as follows:
(i) The president of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, or his or
her designee;
(ii) The executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, or his
or her designee;
(iii) The president of the State Bar of Georgia, or his or her designee;
(iv) The Attorney General of Georgia, or his or her designee;
(v) The Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, or his or her designee; and
(vi) Two superior court judges.
(D) The Speaker shall designate a legislative member of the committee as chairperson
of the committee.
(3) Powers and duties. The committee shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs,
issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any action or
legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate.
(4) Meetings. The chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee. The committee
may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary or
convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and
accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution.
(5) Allowances, expenses, and funding.
(A) The legislative members of the committee shall receive the allowances provided
for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.
(B) Members of the committee who are state officials, other than legislative members,
or who are state employees shall receive no compensation for their services on the
committee, but they may be reimbursed for expenses incurred by them in the
performance of their duties as members of the committee in the same manner as they
are reimbursed for expenses in their capacities as state officials or employees.
(C) Members of the committee who are not legislators, state officials, or state
employees shall receive a daily expense allowance in an amount the same as that
specified in subsection (b) of Code Section 45-7-21 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, as well as the mileage or transportation allowance authorized for state
employees.
(D) The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member
of the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized. Funds
necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds
appropriated to the House of Representatives; except that funds for the reimbursement
of the expenses of state officials, other than legislative members, and for the
reimbursement of the expenses of state employees shall come from funds appropriated
to or otherwise available to their respective agencies.
(6) Report.
(A) In the event the committee adopts any specific findings or recommendations that
include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file a report of the
same prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolution, subject to
subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.
(B) In the event the committee adopts a report that does not include suggestions for
proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file the report, subject to subparagraph (C)
of this paragraph.
(C) No report shall be filed unless the same has been approved prior to the date of
abolishment specified in this resolution by majority vote of a quorum of the committee.
A report so approved shall be signed by the chairperson of the committee and filed with
the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
(D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Clerk of the
House of Representatives a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu
thereof.
(7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2026.