SB 591: Offenses Against Public Order; the disruption of a religious service; prohibit

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Discussed in meetings (14)

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.

1. Senate Judiciary Committee, March 2, 2026

   From 1:24:01 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: After correcting an initial bill-number and document mix-up, the sponsor said the bill would extend existing restrictions on disruption of funerals and memorial services to religious services. The sponsor also said interference with military funeral honors would become an aggravated misdemeanor. Asked what prompted the measure, the sponsor said no recent Georgia incident was known but referred to activities elsewhere in the country. The sponsor said the existing 500-foot buffer would apply and emphasized that the measure covered all religions. One committee member raised concerns about how religious freedom would interact with rights to assembly and protest, particularly without public testimony. The sponsor argued that the restrictions concerned time, place and manner rather than speech content and cited Ward v. Rock Against Racism as supporting precedent. When asked, the sponsor agreed to provide a copy of the case afterward. No witnesses were signed up. The committee passed the bill 5-2.

2. Senate Rules Committee, March 5, 2026

   From 0:56:03 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SB 591 would extend an existing prohibition on disrupting funeral services to religious services. The sponsor described the proposal as making interruption or disruptive protest at a church service a crime. The committee unanimously included the bill in the floor-calendar package.

3. Senate floor session, March 6, 2026 (legislative day 28, part 1)

   From 8:22:35 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Tabled)

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SB 591 would add disruption of religious services to an existing misdemeanor law covering funerals and memorial services. The sponsor described penalties of up to 12 months in jail and $1,000, with an aggravated misdemeanor and a fine up to $5,000 for disrupting a military memorial service. One member asked whether disagreements within a congregation or grieving families could become criminal cases. The sponsor said local authorities and courts would determine whether conduct constituted disruption and maintained that the measure protected worship and dignified services. Another member questioned whether a specific threat justified the bill and whether criminal legislation was being used for political messaging. The sponsor said disruptions elsewhere showed the need for protection and that the bill applied to all religions. The Senate passed the bill, 39 to 13.

4. House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, March 24, 2026

   From 0:17:14 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SB 591 would extend existing protections for funeral services to religious worship services, making interference or disruption a misdemeanor regardless of faith or denomination. The sponsor also said it would increase the penalty for disrupting a military funeral to an aggravated misdemeanor and retain an existing 500-foot buffer. The sponsor argued that the bill regulated conduct rather than speech content. Asked whether the protections covered religious services rather than political activities inside religious institutions, the sponsor confirmed that distinction. No amendments were offered. The committee approved the bill by voice vote and sent it to the Rules Committee; no vote count was stated.

5. House Rules Committee, March 27, 2026

   From 0:45:29 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SB 591 would extend existing prohibitions on disrupting funerals and memorial services to religious services and increase penalties for disrupting military funerals. A member questioned the constitutionality of applying a 500-foot boundary to religious services. The sponsor said the existing boundary was intended to protect First Amendment rights and had survived a Supreme Court ruling. The member disputed that comparison, saying the ruling concerned a boundary of about 24 or 25 feet rather than 500 feet. No resolution of that disagreement or further action was shown.

6. House Rules Committee, March 31, 2026

   From 0:42:13 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 4136

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SB 591 would add worship services to a law already protecting memorial services such as funerals from disruption. Asked whether disrupting a religious service was already illegal, the sponsor said it was not under the provision being discussed. The sponsor described the proposal as bipartisan and said it had passed the Senate. No decision was recorded.

7. House floor session, March 31, 2026 (legislative day 39, part 3)

   From 1:01:07 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 4155

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the bill makes specified disruptions within 500 feet of a religious, funeral, or memorial service a misdemeanor, with a higher misdemeanor penalty for military funeral honors. The sponsor described threatening images or language and blocked access as covered conduct. Members asked whether the bill could restrict protests near abortion clinics or churches, or ordinary religious expression. The sponsor said the abortion-clinic example would not qualify, speaking in tongues would remain allowed, and the bill targets disruptive conduct rather than protests. Another member supported the bill but questioned the 500-foot distance and warned against misuse, recounting an arrest during a peaceful civil-rights visit to a church in 1965. During voting, other members questioned whether outdoor worship gatherings could trigger the restriction, whether protests blocks away could be affected, and whether existing disorderly-conduct law already covered the behavior. Those questions received no substantive clarification from the sponsor. The House passed the bill, 128 to 39.

8. House Rules Committee, March 31, 2026

   From 0:27:47 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 4136

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee placed the bill on the second supplemental calendar after a motion and second. No opposition was voiced, and there was no substantive discussion.

• Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 26, 2026 (legislative day 25), 0:23:20
• Read aloud: Senate floor session, March 3, 2026 (legislative day 26), 0:33:49
• Read aloud: Senate floor session, March 4, 2026 (legislative day 27), 0:51:32
• Read aloud: House floor session, March 9, 2026 (legislative day 29), 1:03:02
• Read aloud: House floor session, March 10, 2026 (legislative day 30), 0:47:17
• Read aloud: House floor session, March 25, 2026 (legislative day 37, AM), 0:44:10

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