--- title: SB 62. "Defend the Guard Act"; enact collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb62 cite_as: SB 62, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb62 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb62.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb62/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69693 date: 2026-01-12 status: introduced 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/sb61.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb63.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 293 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb62.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 62 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-01-29 last_action: Senate Recommitted sponsors: - Colton Moore text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB62/2025 upstream_id: 1947591 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - National Guard - military deployment - war powers - state militia law --- # SB 62. "Defend the Guard Act"; enact ## Text 25 LC 46 9000 Senate Bill 62 By: Senator Moore of the 53rd A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Part 1 of Article 1 of Chapter 2 of Title 38 of the Of ficial Code of Georgia1 Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding state militia generally, so as to require2 an official declaration of war or an official action to call forth the state militia by the United3 States Congress before members of the Georgia National Guard may be released from state4 control to participate in active duty combat or combat support operations; to provide for5 definitions; to provide for construction; to provide for a shor t title; to provide for related6 matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:8 SECTION 1.9 This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Defend the Guard Act."10 SECTION 2.11 Part 1 of Article 1 of Chapter 2 of Title 38 of the Official Co de of Georgia Annotated,12 relating to general provisions regarding state militia generally, is amended by revising Code13 Section 38-2-5, relating to federal call up of militia, Governo r's duties, utilization of14 unorganized militia, and effect of unit's absence, as follows:15 S. B. 62 - 1 - 25 LC 46 9000 "38-2-5.16 (a) As used in this Code section, the term:17 (1) 'Active duty combat' means performing the following services while in active federal18 military service of the United States:19 (A) Participating in an armed conflict;20 (B) Carrying out a hazardous service in a foreign state; or21 (C) Executing a duty through an instrumentality of war.22 (2) 'Official declaration of war' means an official declaration of war made by the United23 States Congress pursuant to Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States24 Constitution.25 (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, the Georgia National Guard and any26 member thereof shall not be released from the state into active duty combat or combat27 support operations unless the United States Congress has passed an official declaration of28 war or has taken an official action pursuant to Article I, Section 8, Clause 15 of the United29 States Constitution to explicitly call forth the Georgia Nation al Guard and any member30 thereof for the enumerated purposes to expressly execute the laws of the union, suppress31 insurrections, or repel an invasion. The Governor shall take a ll actions necessary to32 comply with the requirements of this Code section. Nothing in this subsection shall limit33 or prohibit the Governor from consenting to the deployment of any Georgia National Guard34 member for defense support of civil authority missions within the United States and United35 States territories pursuant to 32 U.S.C. Section 328.36 (c) When the militia of the state is called into federal service under the Constitution and37 laws of the United States, the Governor shall order out for service the organized militia or38 such part thereof as may be necessary; and, if the number avail able is insufficient, the39 Governor may call for and accept from the unorganized militia as many volunteers as are40 required for service in the organized militia. During the absence of the organized militia41 S. B. 62 - 2 - 25 LC 46 9000 in the service of the United States, their state designations s hall not be given to new42 organizations."43 SECTION 3.44 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.45 S. B. 62 - 3 - ## 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. A Georgia Senate bill would bar the Governor from releasing Georgia National Guard members into active combat abroad unless Congress has declared war or formally called up the Guard. ### Plain-language summary Currently the Governor can release Georgia National Guard members to federal active duty under existing arrangements with the U.S. military. This bill, called the "Defend the Guard Act," would rewrite part of Georgia's state militia law (O.C.G.A. § 38-2-5) to say that Guard members cannot be sent into active combat or combat support operations unless the United States Congress has either issued an official declaration of war or taken a specific constitutional action calling forth the militia to enforce federal law, suppress an insurrection, or repel an invasion. The bill defines "active duty combat" to include participating in armed conflict, hazardous service in a foreign country, or duties tied to war-related instrumentalities. It does not affect the Governor's ability to send Guard members to help with civil emergencies inside the United States. The Governor would be required to take all actions necessary to follow this rule, and the bill repeals any conflicting laws. ### What it does - Rewrites Georgia's state militia law (O.C.G.A. § 38-2-5) to restrict when Georgia National Guard members can be released into active combat. - Requires either a formal congressional declaration of war or a specific constitutional call-up action before Guard members can be sent into combat or combat support operations. - Defines 'active duty combat' to cover armed conflict participation, hazardous foreign service, and war-related duties. - Requires the Governor to take all steps necessary to comply with the new restriction. - Preserves the Governor's ability to deploy Guard members for domestic civil emergency support missions. - Repeals any existing laws that conflict with these new restrictions. ### Who it affects Georgia National Guard members and their families, the Governor's office, and the Georgia Department of Defense, since the bill changes the legal conditions under which Guard members can be sent into combat outside routine domestic emergency support. ### Why it matters If enacted, Georgia could not send Guard members into foreign combat operations without a congressional declaration of war or specific call-up, a much higher bar than current federal deployment practice, which could affect how and when Georgia's Guard participates in overseas missions. ### Key provisions - Section 1 names the bill the 'Defend the Guard Act.' - Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 38-2-5 to add definitions for 'active duty combat' and 'official declaration of war.' - Section 2 bars release of the Georgia National Guard into active combat or combat support operations without a congressional declaration of war or a specific constitutional call-up action. - Section 2 requires the Governor to take all actions necessary to comply and clarifies the restriction does not limit domestic civil support deployments under 32 U.S.C. Section 328. - Section 2 retains existing language on how the Governor calls out organized or unorganized militia when federalized under the U.S. Constitution. - Section 3 repeals conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-01-29) - Last action: Senate Recommitted (2026-01-12) - Sponsors: Colton Moore - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69693 > The history, votes, and amendments (293 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb62.md?full=1