---
title: SB 117. Public Officers and Employees; a misdemeanor offense for violations regarding complaints by public employees; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb117
cite_as: SB 117, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb117
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb117.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb117/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70038
date: 2026-01-12
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb116.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb118.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 254
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb117.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 117
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-06
last_action: Senate Recommitted
sponsors:
  - Ricky Williams
  - Chuck Payne
  - Lee Anderson
  - Max Burns
  - Brian Strickland
  - Steve Gooch
  - Mike Hodges
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB117/2025
upstream_id: 1960980
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - whistleblower protections
  - public employees
  - government accountability
  - attorney's fees
  - misdemeanor penalties
---

# SB 117. Public Officers and Employees; a misdemeanor offense for violations regarding complaints by public employees; provide

## Text

25 LC 60 0112S
The Senate Committee on Government Oversight offered the following
substitute to SB 117:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 1 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to1
general provisions regarding public officers and employees, so as to provide a misdemeanor2
offense for violations regarding complaints by public employees ; t o r e q u i r e a w a r d o f3
attorney's fees, court costs, and expenses; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting4
laws; and for other purposes.5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:6
SECTION 1.7
Chapter 1 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated , relating to general8
provisions regarding public officers and employees, is amended by revising Code9
Section 45-1-4, relating to complaints or information from publ ic employees as to fraud,10
waste, and abuse in state programs and operations, as follows:11
"45-1-4.12
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:13
(1) 'Government agency' means any agency of federal, state, or local government14
charged with the enforcement of laws, rules, or regulations.15
- 1 -
25 LC 60 0112S
(2) 'Law, rule, or regulation' includes any federal, state, or local statute or ordinance or16
any rule or regulation adopted according to any federal, state, or local statute or17
ordinance.18
(3) 'Public employee' means any person who is employed by the executive, judicial, or19
legislative branch of the state or by any other department, boa rd, bureau, commission,20
authority, or other agency of the state. Such This term also includes all employees,21
officials, and administrators of any agency covered by the rule s of the State Personnel22
Board and any local or regional governmental entity that receiv es any funds from the23
State of Georgia or any state agency.24
(4) 'Public employer' means the executive, judicial, or legislative branch of the state; any25
other department, board, bureau, commission, authority, or othe r agency of the state26
which employs or appoints a public employee or public employees ; or any local or27
regional governmental entity that receives any funds from the S tate of Georgia or any28
state agency.29
(5) 'Retaliate' or 'retaliation' refers to the discharge, suspension, or demotion by a public30
employer of a public employee or any other adverse employment action taken by a public31
employer against a public employee in the terms or conditions o f employment for32
disclosing a violation of or noncompliance with a law, rule, or regulation to either a33
supervisor or government agency.34
(6) 'Supervisor' means any individual:35
(A) To whom a public employer has given authority to direct an d control the work36
performance of the affected public employee;37
(B) To whom a public employer has given authority to take corrective action regarding38
a violation of or noncompliance with a law, rule, or regulation of which the public39
employee complains; or40
(C) Who has been designated by a public employer to receive complaints regarding a41
violation of or noncompliance with a law, rule, or regulation.42
- 2 -
25 LC 60 0112S
(b) A public employer may receive and investigate complaints o r information from any43
public employee concerning the possible existence of any activity constituting fraud, waste,44
and abuse in or relating to any state programs and operations under the jurisdiction of such45
public employer.46
(c) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, such public employer shall not after47
receipt of a complaint or information from a public employee disclose the identity of the48
public employee without the written consent of such public empl oyee, unless the public49
employer determines such disclosure is necessary and unavoidable during the course of the50
investigation. In such event, the public employee shall be notified in writing at least seven51
days prior to such disclosure.52
(d)(1) No public employer shall make, adopt, or enforce any po licy or practice53
preventing a public employee from disclosing a violation of or noncompliance with a law,54
rule, or regulation to either a supervisor or a government agency.55
(2) No public employer shall retaliate against a public employ ee for disclosing a56
violation of or noncompliance with a law, rule, or regulation to either a supervisor or a57
government agency, unless the disclosure was made with knowledge that the disclosure58
was false or with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity.59
(3) No public employer shall retaliate against a public employ ee for objecting to, or60
refusing to participate in, any activity, policy, or practice of the public employer that the61
public employee has reasonable cause to believe is in violation of or noncompliance with62
a law, rule, or regulation.63
(4) Paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of this subsection shall not apply to policies or practices64
which implement, or to actions by public employers against publ ic employees who65
violate, privilege or confidentiality obligations recognized by constitutional, statutory, or66
common law.67
(e)(1) A public employee who has been the object of retaliation in violation of this Code68
section may institute a civil action in superior court for relief as set forth in paragraph (2)69
- 3 -
25 LC 60 0112S
of this subsection within one year after discovering the retaliation or within three years70
after the retaliation, whichever is earlier.71
(2) In any action brought pursuant to this subsection, the court may order any or all of72
the following relief:73
(A) An injunction restraining continued violation of this Code section;74
(B) Reinstatement of the employee to the same position held before the retaliation or75
to an equivalent position;76
(C) Reinstatement of full fringe benefits and seniority rights;77
(D) Compensation for lost wages, benefits, and other remuneration; and78
(E) Any other compensatory damages allowable at law.79
(f) A court may shall award reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, and expenses to a80
prevailing public employee.81
(g) Any agent of a public employer who violates subsection (d) of this Code section shall82
be guilty of a misdemeanor."83
SECTION 2.84
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.85
- 4 -

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.

A Georgia Senate bill would make it a misdemeanor for a public employer's agent to retaliate against whistleblowing public employees and would require courts to award attorney's fees to employees who win such cases.

### Plain-language summary

Georgia law already lets public employees report fraud, waste, and abuse in state and local government programs, and it bars public employers from punishing employees who make those reports or who refuse to go along with illegal activity. This bill revises that law, found in O.C.G.A. Section 45-1-4, in two main ways.
First, it changes the attorney's fee rule so that a court must, rather than may, award reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, and expenses to a public employee who wins a retaliation lawsuit. Second, it adds a brand new penalty: any agent of a public employer who violates the law's ban on retaliation or on policies blocking employee complaints would be guilty of a misdemeanor. The bill keeps the existing definitions of public employee, public employer, retaliation, and supervisor, and repeals any conflicting laws.

### What it does

- Requires courts to award reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, and expenses to a public employee who wins a retaliation lawsuit, replacing the prior discretionary standard.
- Creates a new misdemeanor criminal offense for any agent of a public employer who violates the law's ban on retaliating against whistleblowing employees or on policies that block employee complaints.
- Leaves in place the existing definitions of public employee, public employer, government agency, retaliation, and supervisor used throughout the whistleblower statute.
- Keeps intact the existing one-year or three-year deadline for a public employee to sue over retaliation, and the existing remedies such as reinstatement and back pay.
- Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with these changes.

### Who it affects

State and local government agencies and their supervisors and other agents who handle employee complaints; public employees across state, judicial, and legislative branches, as well as local and regional government entities that receive state funding, who report fraud, waste, or abuse.

### Why it matters

Public employees who blow the whistle on fraud or misconduct would have a stronger financial incentive to sue if punished, since winning would guarantee fee recovery instead of leaving it to a judge's discretion. Officials who retaliate could now also face criminal misdemeanor charges, not just a civil lawsuit.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. Section 45-1-4, keeping definitions of 'government agency,' 'law, rule, or regulation,' 'public employee,' 'public employer,' 'retaliate,' and 'supervisor.'
- Subsection (d) continues to bar public employers from adopting policies that stop employees from reporting violations or from retaliating against employees who report or refuse to participate in illegal activity.
- Subsection (e) keeps the existing civil action window (one year after discovering retaliation or three years after it occurs, whichever is earlier) and remedies like reinstatement and lost wages.
- Subsection (f) is changed so that a court 'shall' award reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, and expenses to a prevailing public employee, making the award mandatory instead of optional.
- Subsection (g) is new and makes any agent of a public employer who violates subsection (d)'s anti-retaliation rules guilty of a misdemeanor.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2025-02-06)
- Last action: Senate Recommitted (2026-01-12)
- Sponsors: Ricky Williams, Chuck Payne, Lee Anderson, Max Burns, Brian Strickland, Steve Gooch, Mike Hodges
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70038

> The history, votes, and amendments (254 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb117.md?full=1