---
title: SB 175. Elections and Primaries; use of ranked-choice voting; prohibit
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb175
cite_as: SB 175, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb175
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb175.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb175/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70344
date: 2026-03-31
status: engrossed
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 1313
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb175.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 175
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-03-03
last_action: House Third Reading Lost
sponsors:
  - Randy Robertson
  - Brandon Beach
  - Matt Brass
  - Russ Goodman
  - Mike Hodges
  - Marty Harbin
  - Shawn Still
  - Drew Echols
  - Ricky Williams
  - Ed Setzler
  - Sam Watson
  - Alan Powell
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB175/2025
upstream_id: 1970363
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - monument protection
  - Confederate monuments
  - government liability
  - sovereign immunity
  - public records registry
---

# SB 175. Elections and Primaries; use of ranked-choice voting; prohibit

## Text

The House Committee on Governmental Affairs offers the following substitute to SB 175:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 3 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state
flag, seal, and other symbols, so as to revise provisions for the protection of government
statues, monuments, plaques, banners, and other commemorative symbols; to provide for
construction; to provide for a waiver of sovereign and official immunity in certain cases; to
provide for severability; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to
repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 3 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state flag, seal,
and other symbols, is amended by revising subsections (b) and (c) of Code Section 50-3-1,
relating to description of state flag, militia to carry flag, monument offenses, penalties, and
causes of action, and adding new subsections to read as follows:
"(b)(1) As used in this subsection, the term:
(A) 'Agency' means any state or local government entity, including any department,
agency, bureau, authority, board, educational institution, commission, or
instrumentality or subdivision thereof, and specifically including a local board of
education, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and any
institution of the University System of Georgia.
(B) 'Monument' means a monument, plaque, statue, marker, flag, banner, structure
name, display, or memorial constructed and located with the intent of being
permanently displayed and perpetually maintained that is:
(i) Dedicated to a historical entity or historically significant military, religious, civil,
civil rights, political, social, or cultural events or series of events; or
(ii) Dedicated to, honors, or recounts the military service of any past or present
military personnel of this state; the United States of America or the several states
thereof; or the Confederate States of America or the several states thereof.
(C) 'Officer' means an officer, official, body, employee, contractor, representative, or
agent of any agency, whether appointed or elected.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, <ins>officer, agency,</ins> or other entity
to mutilate, deface, defile, <ins>damage, destroy, lose,</ins> or abuse contemptuously any publicly
<ins>or privately</ins> owned monument located, erected, constructed, created, or maintained on
real property owned by an agency or the State of Georgia. No <ins>person, firm, corporation,
</ins> officer, <del>or</del> agency, <ins>or other entity</ins> shall remove or conceal from display any such
monument for the purpose of preventing the visible display of the same. A <del>violation of
this paragraph shall constitute</del> <ins>person that violates this Code section shall be guilty of</ins> a
misdemeanor.
(3) No publicly <ins>or privately</ins> owned monument erected, constructed, created, or
maintained on the public property of this state or its agencies, departments, authorities,
or instrumentalities or on real property owned by an agency or the State of Georgia shall
be relocated, removed, concealed, obscured, or altered in any fashion by any officer or
agency; provided, however, that appropriate measures for the preservation, <del>protection,
and interpretation</del> <ins>and protection in place</ins> of such monument or memorial shall not be
prohibited.
(4) Any person, <ins>firm, corporation, officer, agency,</ins> or <ins>other</ins> entity that <del>damages, destroys,
or loses a monument or that takes or removes a monument without replacing it</del> <ins>violates
this Code section</ins> shall be liable for treble the amount of the full cost of repair or
replacement of such monument and may be subject to exemplary damages <del>unless such
person or entity was authorized to take such action by the public entity owning such
monument.</del> In addition to treble the cost of repair or replacement and possible exemplary
damages, the person, <ins>firm, corporation, officer, agency,</ins> or <ins>other</ins> entity shall also be liable
for the attorney's fees and court costs expended by the <del>public entity owner of the
monument or person, group, or legal entity</del> <ins>claimant under this Code section</ins> in any action
or proceeding required to establish liability and collect amounts owed. Should a <del>public
entity owner of the monument or person, group, or other legal entity prevail in any action
</del> <ins>claimant</ins> under this Code section <ins>prevail in any action,</ins> such prevailing <del>party</del> <ins>claimant
</ins> shall <ins>use the moneys collected from the party mutilating, defacing, defiling, damaging,
destroying, losing, abusing, or relocating such monument to</ins> timely pay for the cost of <del>or
</del> repair or <del>placement</del> <ins>restoration</ins> of the monument <del>upon moneys being collected from the
party damaging, destroying, or losing such monument</del> <ins>to its former condition prior to
being mutilated, defaced, defiled, damaged, destroyed, lost, abused, or relocated.
</ins> (5) <del>A public entity owning a monument or any</del> <ins>Any interested</ins> person, group, or legal
entity, <ins>without regard to ownership of the monument or a specialized and personalized
injury,</ins> shall have <ins>standing and</ins> a right to bring a cause of action for any conduct
prohibited by this Code section <del>for damages as permitted by this Code section.</del> <ins>Such
claimant may bring an action individually or in a representative capacity against the
person, firm, corporation, officer, agency, or other entity that violates this Code section
to seek injunctive relief and shall recover attorney's fees, expenses of litigation, and
general and exemplary damages sustained as a result of such unlawful acts upon
prevailing in the action.</ins> Such action shall be brought in the superior court of the county
in which the monument was located.
(6) Except as provided in this paragraph, it shall be unlawful for any person, firm,
corporation, <ins>officer, agency,</ins> or other entity acting without authority to mutilate, deface,
defile, abuse contemptuously, relocate, remove, conceal, <ins>damage, destroy, alter,</ins> or
obscure any privately owned monument located on privately owned property. Any
person or entity that suffers injury or damages as a result of a violation of this paragraph
may bring an action individually or in a representative capacity against the person or
persons, <ins>firm, corporation, officer, agency, or other entity</ins> committing such violations to
seek to recover general and exemplary damages sustained as a result of <del>such person's or
persons'</del> unlawful actions <ins>of any such defendant. Any person, firm, corporation, officer,
agency, or other entity that damages, destroys, or loses a monument or that takes or
removes a privately owned monument shall be liable for treble the amount of the full cost
of repair or replacement of such monument and may be subject to exemplary damages.
In addition to treble the cost of repair or replacement and possible exemplary damages,
such person, firm, corporation, officer, agency, or other entity shall also be liable for the
attorney's fees and court costs expended by the claimant under this Code section in any
action or proceeding required to establish liability and collect amounts owed.</ins> This
paragraph shall not apply to <del>an</del> <ins>a private</ins> owner of real property <del>storing</del> <ins>regarding such
owner's</ins> privately owned monuments.
(7) Nothing in this Code section shall prevent an agency from relocating a monument
when relocation is necessary for the construction, expansion, or alteration of edifices,
buildings, roads, streets, highways, or other transportation construction projects. Any
monument relocated for such purposes shall be relocated to a site of similar prominence,
honor, visibility, and access within the same county or municipality in which the
monument was originally located. A monument shall not be relocated to a museum,
cemetery, or mausoleum unless it was originally placed at such location.
<ins>(8) In all cases when there has been an alleged violation of this Code section, the
Attorney General or the district attorney of the circuit in which the monument was
</ins>
<ins>located may represent the interests of the monument owner, the interests of others with
interest in the monument, and the interests of this state as parens patriae in all legal
matters pertaining to the enforcement of this Code section. The Attorney General or the
district attorney may bring actions, and, insofar as an action of this nature may be deemed
an action against the state and its agencies, the state expressly gives its consent thereto.
(9) Conduct prohibited by this Code section shall be enjoined by the appropriate superior
court upon proper application.
(10) No claimant shall be required to show a particularized or personal concrete injury
to make a claim for damages because the General Assembly of the State of Georgia finds
the enforcement of this Code section to be a public right to have all governmental entities
abide by and adhere to state law.
(11) In any case where an agency desires to remove a monument from public display or
relocate such monument, where such removal or relocation is explicitly authorized by
state law and has not been foreclosed by litigation which held that the monument shall
not be removed from public display or relocated, the agency shall give 90 days' public
notice in the legal organ of the county in which such monument is located of such intent
and, if the agency desires to remove the monument from public display, shall solicit in
such public notice any third party that would be interested in receiving such monument
for public display. No action with regard to removing or relocating such monument shall
be taken by the agency until the expiration of the 90 day period, provided that such period
shall be tolled during the pendency of any litigation requesting an injunction, declaratory
relief, or declaratory judgment to prevent such agency from removing such monument
from public display or relocating such monument or requesting other sanctions under this
Code section until a decision on the merits of such litigation is final. At the conclusion
of the 90 day period, the agency shall either safely store and maintain such monument or,
if a third party so requests, transfer the monument to such third party, provided that such
third party agrees to publicly display the monument at either a location owned by such
</ins>
<ins>third party or a location owned by a public agency that such third party has permission
to use for such display. In the event that multiple third parties are interested in receiving
such monument for public display, preference shall be given to the third party which is
most closely identified with the purposes and goals of the organization originally placing
the monument and the agency may create a process to determine which of the third
parties will receive the monument. Additionally, an interested third party that is willing
to publicly display such monument in a location within the jurisdiction where the
monument is presently located shall be the preferred recipient. The costs of moving and
placing the monument in a new location shall be paid for by the agency.
</ins> (c) Any other provision of law notwithstanding, the memorial to the heroes of the
Confederate States of America graven upon the face of Stone Mountain shall never be
altered, removed, concealed, or obscured in any fashion and shall be preserved and
protected for all time as a tribute to the bravery and heroism of the citizens of this state who
suffered and died in their cause.
<ins>(d) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed so as to interfere with the rights of any
private monument owner. For the purposes of protection pursuant to this Code section, any
monument found to be privately owned shall be treated as publicly owned. No transfer of
title of such a monument is conveyed by this Code section.
(e) The Department of Community Affairs shall establish a registry of all monuments in
this state located on public property. Such registry shall contain, at a minimum, a
description of each monument, the location of such monument, and a statement as to
whether the monument itself is privately or publicly owned and the name of the owner.
This shall include monuments that are in storage as well as monuments on public display.
Not later than December 31 of the year following the year in which this subsection
becomes effective, each agency shall send to the Department of Community Affairs a
comprehensive list of all monuments within the jurisdiction of such agency containing the
information set forth in this Code section. Thereafter, any time a monument is relocated
</ins>
<ins>to a place that is different from the location on the monument registry maintained by the
Department of Community Affairs the agency within whose jurisdiction such monument
is located shall immediately notify the Department of Community Affairs of the new
location of the monument.
(f) The General Assembly of the State of Georgia explicitly hereby waives sovereign
immunity for any and all civil actions, causes of action, and claims that may be asserted
against the State of Georgia or its political subdivisions under this Code section and it shall
not be raised as a defense.
(g) The General Assembly of the State of Georgia explicitly hereby waives qualified
immunity for any public officer or individual who violates any provision of this Code
section."
</ins> SECTION 2.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law
without such approval.
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

## 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 House committee substitute to SB 175 would rewrite Georgia's monument protection law, expanding it to cover privately owned monuments, creating a state monument registry, and waiving sovereign and qualified immunity for violations, even though the bill's official title still describes it as a ranked-choice voting ban.

### Plain-language summary

Although this bill is titled as a ban on ranked-choice voting, the substitute text passed by the House Committee on Governmental Affairs replaces that subject entirely with a rewrite of Georgia's monument protection law (O.C.G.A. § 50-3-1). The bill expands the existing law against damaging or removing public monuments so that it also covers privately owned monuments, and it makes officers, agencies, firms, and corporations liable, not just private individuals.
It lets any interested person or group, not just the monument's owner, sue over violations, and it removes the requirement that a plaintiff show personal injury. It also creates a 90 day public notice process before an agency can remove or relocate a monument, directs the Department of Community Affairs to build a statewide registry of public monuments, and expressly waives the state's sovereign immunity and officials' qualified immunity for claims under this law. The changes would take effect as soon as the Governor signs the bill or it becomes law without a signature.

### What it does

- Extends Georgia's monument protection law to cover privately owned monuments in addition to publicly owned ones, treating them the same way for legal protection.
- Allows any interested person or group, not just the monument's owner, to sue over damage, removal, or defacement of a monument without having to show personal injury.
- Requires agencies to give 90 days public notice before removing or relocating a public monument, including a chance for third parties to request the monument for display.
- Directs the Department of Community Affairs to create and maintain a statewide registry listing every public monument, its location, and its owner.
- Waives the state's sovereign immunity and any officer's qualified immunity for lawsuits brought under this monument protection law.
- Makes violators liable for triple the cost of repair or replacement of a damaged monument plus attorney's fees and court costs.

### Who it affects

State and local government agencies, including school boards and University System of Georgia institutions; private owners of monuments; anyone who damages, removes, or defaces a public or private monument; the Department of Community Affairs, which must build the new registry; and the Attorney General and district attorneys, who gain enforcement authority.

### Why it matters

Georgians who want to challenge removal or damage of a monument, public or private, would gain broader legal standing to sue and could collect triple damages and attorney's fees. Agencies would face new notice and registry requirements before altering monuments, and could no longer rely on sovereign immunity as a legal defense.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 50-3-1(b) to add officers, agencies, and other entities to the list of parties who can be held liable for damaging or removing monuments.
- The revised law expands protection to privately owned monuments in addition to publicly owned ones, while paragraph (d) clarifies it does not transfer title or interfere with private ownership rights.
- Paragraph (5) grants any interested person, group, or legal entity standing to sue over monument violations without needing to show a personalized injury.
- Paragraph (8) lets the Attorney General or local district attorneys represent the state's interest and bring enforcement actions as parens patriae.
- Paragraph (11) creates a 90 day public notice requirement before an agency may remove or relocate a monument, with a process for interested third parties to request it for display elsewhere.
- Paragraph (e) directs the Department of Community Affairs to build a statewide monument registry, with agencies required to report their monument inventories by December 31 of the year after the law takes effect.
- Paragraphs (f) and (g) waive the state's sovereign immunity and officials' qualified immunity for claims brought under this Code section.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it becomes law without a signature.

## Status

- Status: Engrossed (2025-03-03)
- Last action: House Third Reading Lost (2026-03-31)
- Sponsors: Randy Robertson, Brandon Beach, Matt Brass, Russ Goodman, Mike Hodges, Marty Harbin, Shawn Still, Drew Echols, Ricky Williams, Ed Setzler, Sam Watson, Alan Powell
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70344

> The history, votes, and amendments (1,313 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb175.md?full=1