Senate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session

SB 419: "Eric's ID Law"

Last action January 27, 2026 · Senate Read and Referred

Senate Bill 419, known as Eric's ID Law, would let Georgians with non-apparent disabilities add a confidential notation to their driver's license or ID card and would require new police training on interacting with them.

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In plain language

Georgia law already lets veterans with PTSD add a notation to their driver's license. This bill expands that idea to anyone with a physical or mental disability that is not immediately obvious, such as many developmental or intellectual disabilities. People could request the notation, ask to have it removed later, and the Department of Driver Services would generally be barred from sharing records about those requests except to courts, criminal justice agencies, other licensing authorities, or with the person's own written consent. The bill also directs the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council to add training on encounters with people who have non-apparent disabilities to the basic training curriculum starting in 2027. It waives license replacement fees for adding or removing the notation, requires the commissioner to consult disability advocacy groups on the notation's design, and requires public outreach about the program. It also simplifies renewal of disability identification cards for people with permanent disabilities by removing a requirement for repeated medical affidavits.

What the bill does

Lets a person with a non-apparent physical or mental disability request a notation on their driver's license or identification card, and later request its removal.
Bars the Department of Driver Services from disclosing records about notation requests except to courts, criminal justice agencies, licensing authorities, the individual, or Georgia's child support agency.
Requires basic police training courses starting in 2027 to cover interactions with people who have non-apparent disabilities, including those with the license notation.
Waives the license replacement fee when someone adds or removes the disability notation.
Requires the commissioner to consult developmental and intellectual disability advocacy groups when designing the notation symbol and to run public education about it.
Removes the requirement that people with non-obvious permanent disabilities present a new sworn medical affidavit every time they renew their disability identification card.

Who it affects

People with non-apparent physical or mental disabilities, including many with developmental or intellectual disabilities, who could request the new license notation. It also affects police officers and cadets who will receive new training, the Department of Driver Services, disability advocacy groups consulted on the notation's design, and the Department of Human Services in child support cases.

Why it matters

The notation could help police recognize during a stop that someone has a disability affecting how they communicate or respond, potentially reducing misunderstandings. The confidentiality rules mean this information generally stays private, and removing repeat-affidavit renewal requirements makes it easier for people with permanent disabilities to keep their ID cards current.

Key provisions

Section 1 gives the bill the short title 'Eric's ID Law.'
Section 2 adds Code Section 35-8-28, requiring basic police training starting in 2027 on interactions with individuals with non-apparent disabilities, administered by the training council.
Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-5-25 to waive license replacement fees when a person adds or removes a disability notation under Code Section 40-5-38.
Section 4 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 40-5-38 to let anyone with a non-apparent physical or mental disability request a license notation, allow its removal, restrict disclosure of related records to five specific exceptions, and require the commissioner to consult advocacy groups and run public outreach.
Section 5 adds a definition of 'non-apparent disability' to O.C.G.A. § 40-5-170 as a disability that is not immediately obvious, including developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Section 6 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-5-171 to let people with non-apparent disabilities use the new notation instead of the international handicapped symbol on identification cards.
Section 7 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-5-172 to remove the requirement for repeated sworn medical affidavits when renewing identification cards for people with non-obvious permanent disabilities.

From the bill

“Any applicant with a physical or mental disability which is not immediately obvious or visible may request to have a notation placed upon the front of his or her driver's license which indicates such non-apparent physical or mental disability.”
This is the core provision letting people add the new disability notation to their license.

“The department shall be prohibited from disclosing any information relating to a request for the addition or removal of a notation authorized by this Code section”
Sets a general rule of confidentiality for records about the notation, with limited listed exceptions.

“'Non-apparent disability' means a disability that is not immediately obvious or visible, including, but not limited to, developmental disabilities and intellectual disabilities.”
Defines the key term the bill adds to Georgia's identification card law.

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, January 27, 2026 (legislative day 7)
From 0:21:31 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Read and Referred)
Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk read SB 419, and the chair referred it to the Public Safety Committee. Later, the sponsor highlighted it as part of an upcoming Capitol event focused on saving lives. The sponsor said the proposal was intended to help autistic young people and described concern that police might misunderstand an autistic person's movements or nervous behavior. The sponsor invited senators to review the legislation and offer feedback. No vote on the bill was shown.

Status timeline

2026-01-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2026-01-21Senate Hopper (Senate)

Topics

disability rights
driver's licenses
police training
privacy protections
identification cards

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Machine-readable https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb419.md · https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md · MCP https://mcp.georgiacommons.org/mcp