--- title: SB 42. Penalties for violating Code Sections 16-6-9 through 16-6-12; certain penalty provisions for the offense of prostitution, keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, and pandering; repeal collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb42 cite_as: SB 42, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb42 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb42.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb42/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69577 date: 2025-05-14 status: passed 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/sb41.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb43.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 951 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb42.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 42 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-05-14 last_action: Effective Date 2025-05-14 sponsors: - Bo Hatchett - Drew Echols - Kay Kirkpatrick - Chuck Payne - Brian Strickland - Frank Ginn - Chuck Hufstetler - Ben Watson - Max Burns - Carden Summers - John Albers - Bill Cowsert - John Kennedy - Larry Walker - Marty Harbin - Clint Dixon - Jason Anavitarte - Soo Hong text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB42/2025 upstream_id: 1945148 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - prostitution law - criminal penalties - pimping and pandering - Georgia criminal code --- # SB 42. Penalties for violating Code Sections 16-6-9 through 16-6-12; certain penalty provisions for the offense of prostitution, keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, and pandering; repeal ## Text 25 LC 48 1398 Senate Bill 42 By: Senators Hatchett of the 50th, Echols of the 49th, Kirkpatrick of the 32nd, Payne of the 54th, Strickland of the 42nd and others AS PASSED A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Code Section 16-6-13 of the Official Code of Georgia A nnotated, relating to1 penalties for violating Code Sections 16-6-9 through 16-6-12, so as to repeal certain penalty2 provisions for the offense of prostitution, keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, and3 pandering; to provide for related matters; to provide for an ef fective date; to repeal4 conflicting laws; and for other purposes.5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:6 SECTION 1.7 Code Section 16-6-13 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to penalties for8 violating Code Sections 16-6-9 through 16-6-12, is amended by repealing and reserving the9 entirety of subsection (b).10 SECTION 2.11 This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law12 without such approval.13 S. B. 42 - 1 - 25 LC 48 1398 SECTION 3.14 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.15 S. B. 42 - 2 - ## 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. Senate Bill 42 removes a specific penalty provision from Georgia's prostitution law, eliminating part of the punishment scheme tied to prostitution, keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, and pandering offenses. ### Plain-language summary Georgia law currently sets criminal penalties for prostitution, keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, and pandering under a section of state law (O.C.G.A. § 16-6-13). That section has more than one subsection laying out different penalty rules for these offenses. This bill repeals subsection (b) of that penalty section entirely, striking it from the law but leaving a placeholder (the bill text describes this as repealing and reserving the subsection, meaning the letter designation stays empty rather than being reused). The bill does not add new language explaining what replaces the removed provision. It would take effect immediately once signed by the Governor or allowed to become law without a signature, and it repeals any other state laws that conflict with it. ### What it does - Repeals subsection (b) of Georgia's penalty law for prostitution offenses (O.C.G.A. § 16-6-13), removing that specific penalty provision entirely. - Reserves the subsection designation rather than reassigning it, meaning subsection (b) is left empty in the code going forward. - Leaves the rest of O.C.G.A. § 16-6-13, including any other penalty provisions in the section, unchanged. - Sets the law to take effect immediately upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without the Governor's signature. - Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this change. ### Who it affects People charged or convicted under Georgia's prostitution, keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, and pandering laws, along with prosecutors, defense attorneys, and courts that apply the penalty section of O.C.G.A. § 16-6-13 in these cases. ### Why it matters Because the bill removes a specific penalty provision without the text spelling out what that provision required, its practical effect on sentencing for these offenses depends on what subsection (b) previously covered, something courts and attorneys handling these cases will need to account for. ### Key provisions - Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 16-6-13 by repealing and reserving subsection (b) in full, removing that penalty language from the code. - Section 2 makes the Act effective immediately upon the Governor's approval or upon becoming law without approval. - Section 3 repeals all other Georgia laws or parts of laws that conflict with this Act. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-14) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-05-14 (2025-05-14) - Sponsors: Bo Hatchett, Drew Echols, Kay Kirkpatrick, Chuck Payne, Brian Strickland, Frank Ginn, Chuck Hufstetler, Ben Watson, Max Burns, Carden Summers, John Albers, Bill Cowsert, John Kennedy, Larry Walker, Marty Harbin, Clint Dixon, Jason Anavitarte, Soo Hong - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69577 > The history, votes, and amendments (951 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb42.md?full=1