Georgia CommonsSenate · Engrossed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
SB 17: "Ricky and Alyssa's Law"; enact
Last action March 31, 2026 · Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub As Amended
Georgia's SB 17, called Ricky and Alyssa's Law, would require every public school to install a mobile panic alert system and provide detailed digital maps of school buildings to first responders by July 1, 2026.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill 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 public schools currently have no statewide requirement to link their emergency systems directly with police, fire, and 911 dispatch, or to provide detailed building maps to first responders. This bill, named for victims of a school shooting, changes that. It requires every public school to implement a mobile panic alert system, called 'Alyssa's Alert,' that connects with Next Generation 9-1-1 and other emergency technology so multiple agencies can coordinate in real time during a school security emergency. The bill also requires schools to procure detailed school mapping data, including floor plans, labeled access points, utility and safety equipment locations, and surrounding property layouts, verified annually through an in-person inspection. The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency may set rules for how this data is formatted and secured. Schools already meeting these standards by July 1, 2026 do not need new systems. The law grants immunity from civil liability for creating and using the mapping data and takes effect July 1, 2025.
What the bill does
- Requires every Georgia public school to install a mobile panic alert system ('Alyssa's Alert') linked to local and state emergency responders by July 1, 2026.
- Requires the panic alert system to integrate with Next Generation 9-1-1 technology and with new school mapping data.
- Requires public schools to procure detailed school mapping data, including floor plans, labeled access points, utility locations, and surrounding areas, verified yearly by in-person inspection.
- Authorizes the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to set rules for formatting, encrypting, and securely transmitting school mapping data.
- Exempts schools already meeting the panic alert requirements as of July 1, 2026 from procuring new systems.
- Grants civil liability immunity to school boards, school systems, local governments, and their employees for creating and using the mapping data, except in cases of gross negligence or bad faith.
Who it affects
Public schools, local school systems, and school boards across Georgia; students and staff who would be protected by faster emergency response; local police, fire, and 911 dispatch agencies that must integrate with the new systems; and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, which gains rulemaking authority.
Why it matters
If a security emergency happens at a Georgia public school, this law aims to let police, fire, and dispatch coordinate faster using shared alert systems and detailed building maps. Schools face new deadlines and coordination duties, while officials and school systems gain legal protection from lawsuits over the mapping data.
Key provisions
- Section 1 names the law 'Ricky and Alyssa's Law.'
- Section 2 adds Code Section 20-2-591, requiring schools to implement the 'Alyssa's Alert' mobile panic system by July 1, 2026, integrated with Next Generation 9-1-1 and school mapping data, with an exception for schools that already meet the standard.
- Section 3 adds a definition of 'school mapping data' to O.C.G.A. § 38-3-151, covering building information, floor plans, and aerial imagery.
- Section 4 adds Code Section 38-3-154, detailing required contents of school mapping data (access points, utilities, safety equipment, surrounding areas), annual verification, agency rulemaking authority, public disclosure exemptions, and civil liability immunity for school systems and employees absent gross negligence or bad faith.
- Section 5 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.
- Section 6 repeals conflicting laws.
From the bill
“Such system shall be known as the 'Alyssa's Alert' and shall integrate with the technology used in each local public safety answering point, including, but not limited to, Next Generation 9-1-1”
“Local boards of education, local school systems, public schools, and local governments and agencies shall be immune from civil liability for any damages arising out of the creation and use of the school mapping data.”
Discussed in meetings (1)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
Senate floor session, March 31, 2026 (legislative day 39, part 2)
From 4:45:04 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub As Amended)
Summary by Georgia Commons: The majority leader proposed replacing the school-safety bill with a process for intervening in distressed cities. The majority leader described financial triggers, a review commission, court proceedings and a receiver to help restore city finances. Examples included unpaid employees, missing budgets and operating deficits, with a 10-year review period. Amendment 1A required the state auditor to report delinquent local-government filings to legislators early each session. One opponent said meeting two triggers could require a court to install a receiver for up to two years, even where violations were technical, displacing elected officials without enough judicial discretion. Other opponents said the proposal expanded state control, moved too quickly and did not address poverty or underlying service problems. One supporter called receivership an alternative to ending a city's charter. Another described a city of 1,800 residents with roughly $3 million in debts, missing audits, sewage failures and unsafe water, saying intervention was needed when essential services collapsed. The majority leader argued that residents should not bear new taxes for officials' financial mistakes. The Senate adopted amendment 1A without objection and agreed to the amended House substitute, 32 to 17.
Status timeline
- Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub As Amended (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Third Read (Senate)
Show full history (12 actions)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-31)
- Clint Dixon (R, SD-45)
- Frank Ginn (R, SD-47)
- Steve Gooch (R, SD-51)
- Randy Robertson (R, SD-29)
- Matt Brass (R, SD-6)
- Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-52)
- John Albers (R, SD-56)
- Bill Cowsert (R, SD-46)
- John F. Kennedy (R, SD-18)
- Carden Summers (R, SD-13)
- Bo Hatchett (R, SD-50)
- Brian Strickland (R, SD-42)
- Billy Hickman (R, SD-4)
- Mike Hodges (R, SD-3)
- Rick Williams (R, SD-25)
- Larry Walker, III (R, SD-20)
- Marty Harbin (R, SD-16)
- Greg Dolezal (R, SD-27)
- Drew Echols (R, SD-49)
- Timothy Bearden (R, SD-30)
- Lee Anderson (R, SD-24)
- Sonya Halpern (D, SD-39)
- Jason Esteves (D, SD-35)
- Russ Goodman (R, SD-8)
- Ben Watson (R, SD-1)
- Max Burns (R, SD-23)
- Sam Watson (R, SD-11)
- Chuck Payne (R, SD-54)
- Holt Persinger (R, HD-119)
Votes
- Senate voteMarch 6, 2025
55 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 1 excused)
- House voteApril 2, 2025
171 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 8 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 31, 2026
32 yea, 17 nay (2 not voting, 3 excused)
Topics
- school safety
- panic alert systems
- 911 emergency response
- school mapping data
- education law