SB 482: Law Enforcement Officers and Agencies; persons requesting booking photographs to provide the first and last names of the individuals in the photographs; require

Under current Georgia law, people can request booking photographs from police as long as they submit a statement affirming lawful use. This bill tightens that process by requiring requesters to identify the individual in the photo by first and last name and to notarize their statement. It also creates a new rule for law enforcement videos, such as body camera or dashcam footage, requiring requesters to identify the person depicted or the approximate date, time, and location of the incident. Except for the person shown or their attorney, requests must be made in person, one at a time. The bill also changes Georgia's open records law (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72) to exempt audio and video recordings that show a person's death or their distress right before dying from public disclosure, with exceptions for the deceased's next of kin, court-ordered release in closed investigations, and attorneys in certain habeas corpus cases. Journalists credentialed with the Georgia Press Association or Georgia Association of Broadcasters are exempted from most of these new requirements. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it becomes law without his signature, and would apply to requests made afterward.

• Requires anyone requesting a booking photo to name the person depicted and submit a notarized statement confirming lawful use, instead of just an unnotarized statement.
• Creates a new category called 'law enforcement video' covering body camera and vehicle camera footage, and requires requesters to identify the person shown or the incident's date, time, and location.
• Requires most booking photo and law enforcement video requests to be made in person, one request per photo or video, except for the depicted person or their attorney.
• Exempts audio or video recordings showing a person's death or their final distress from Georgia's open records law, except for release to next of kin or by court order in closed cases.
• Allows agencies to redact law enforcement videos to hide bystanders' identities, but not the identity of the person named in the request or of law enforcement personnel.
• Exempts credentialed Georgia Press Association and Georgia Association of Broadcasters members from most of the new identification and in-person requirements.

Georgia residents seeking booking photos or police video footage, journalists and members of the Georgia Press Association and Georgia Association of Broadcasters, families of people who died in incidents captured on police recordings, defense attorneys handling habeas corpus cases, and law enforcement agencies and courts that process these requests.

People seeking mugshots or police footage would face new identification and notarization steps and could no longer submit bulk or mailed requests in most cases. Families of people who died on camera would gain new privacy protection, while access to that footage would become harder for the general public to obtain, even for oversight purposes.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19 to require booking photo requesters to name the person depicted and submit a notarized statement; false statements remain a crime under O.C.G.A. § 16-10-20.
• Section 1 requires most booking photo requests to be made in person and separately for each photo, with exceptions for the depicted person, their attorney, or credentialed press members.
• Section 2 creates new Code Section 35-1-19.1 defining 'law enforcement video' and setting similar identification and in-person request rules, plus a redaction option that protects the named individual and officers from being obscured.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72 to add a new exemption (paragraph 53) shielding recordings of a person's death or final distress from public disclosure, with defined next-of-kin release rights.
• Section 3 allows a superior court to order disclosure of death recordings in closed criminal investigations if it finds the public interest outweighs the family's privacy interest, after in-camera review and two weeks' notice to next of kin.
• Section 3 carves out access for defense counsel in habeas corpus or new-trial proceedings and for credentialed journalists, subject to conditions.
• Section 3 applies the death-recording exemption to material already held by agencies as of May 13, 2026, and to material obtained afterward.
• Section 4 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it becomes law without signature, applying to requests made on or after that date.

1. 2026-03-27House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-03-10House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-09House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-03-06Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
5. 2026-03-06Senate Third Read (Senate)
6. 2026-03-06Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
7. 2026-03-06Senate Tabled (Senate)
8. 2026-02-20Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Brian Strickland (R, SD-042)Primary sponsor
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)
• Blake Tillery (R, SD-019)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
• Joseph Gullett (R, HD-019)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2026

   53 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 2 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #659

• public records access
• booking photos
• police body cameras
• government transparency
• victim privacy