Georgia CommonsSB 443: Offenses Against Public Order; the punishment for the offense of obstructing highways, streets, sidewalks, or other public passages; increase
Last action May 11, 2026 · Effective Date 2026-07-01
A Georgia Senate bill would increase the penalty for blocking a highway or street to a high and aggravated misdemeanor and let victims sue for damages, while keeping sidewalk or other passage obstruction a regular misdemeanor.
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 Enrolled version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Current Georgia law treats obstructing a highway, street, sidewalk, or other public passage as a single misdemeanor offense. This bill rewrites that law (O.C.G.A. § 16-11-43) to split it into two separate offenses. Blocking a highway or street without legal authority, in a way that makes it impassable and causes unreasonable inconvenience or hazard, becomes a high and aggravated misdemeanor if the person refuses to clear it after a police order or reasonable official request. That is a more serious classification than a standard misdemeanor and can carry steeper fines and jail time under Georgia law. The bill also allows a person harmed by this kind of obstruction to sue the offender in civil court for damages, on top of any criminal fine or penalty. Obstructing a sidewalk or other public passage besides a highway or street remains a regular misdemeanor under a separate provision. The bill repeals any conflicting laws.
What the bill does
- Splits the existing obstruction law into two offenses: one for highways and streets, another for sidewalks and other public passages.
- Raises the penalty for obstructing a highway or street to a high and aggravated misdemeanor, a more serious classification than a standard misdemeanor.
- Creates a new civil liability provision letting people harmed by a highway or street obstruction sue the offender for damages.
- Keeps obstruction of a sidewalk or other public passage as a regular misdemeanor, unchanged in severity.
- Requires a reasonable official request or a peace officer's order to remove the obstruction before the offense applies in either case.
Who it affects
People who block highways or streets, such as protesters or demonstrators who occupy roadways, face the stiffer penalty and possible civil lawsuits. Law enforcement officers who issue removal orders, prosecutors handling these cases, and anyone who obstructs sidewalks or other public passages are also affected.
Why it matters
Someone who blocks a highway or street and refuses a police order to move could now face a tougher criminal charge and a civil lawsuit for damages, rather than the lighter misdemeanor that previously covered all types of public obstruction, changing the legal risk of road blockages.
Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 16-11-43 to make obstructing a highway or street, when done without legal authority and causing impassability, a high and aggravated misdemeanor if the person refuses a removal order.
- Section 1 adds a civil liability provision allowing a person to be sued for damages resulting from a highway or street obstruction, in addition to criminal fines or penalties.
- Section 1 keeps a separate provision making obstruction of a sidewalk or other public passage a standard misdemeanor.
- Section 2 repeals any laws in conflict with the Act.
From the bill
“is guilty of a high and aggravated misdemeanor.”
“such person may be held civilly liable for damages that results from an offense of this Code section.”
Status timeline
- Effective Date 2026-07-01
- Act 512
- Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
- Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
Show full history (15 actions)
- House First Readers (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Third Read (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
- John Albers (R, SD-056)
- Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)
- Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
- Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)
- Brian Strickland (R, SD-042)
- Jason T. Dickerson (R, SD-021)
- Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)
- Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
- Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
- Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
- Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)
- Mike Hodges (R, SD-003)
- Max Burns (R, SD-023)
- Drew Echols (R, SD-049)
- Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
- Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
- Noel Williams (R, HD-148)
Votes
- Senate voteMarch 3, 2026
37 yea, 14 nay (2 not voting, 2 absent)
- Senate voteMarch 3, 2026
35 yea, 17 nay (1 not voting, 2 absent)
- House voteMarch 23, 2026
96 yea, 69 nay (1 not voting, 10 absent)
Topics
- public order laws
- protest laws
- road blockage penalties
- criminal misdemeanors
- civil liability