--- title: SR 311. Senate Study Committee on Recovery Residences; create collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sr311 cite_as: SR 311, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr311 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr311.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr311/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71021 date: 2025-04-02 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/sr310.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr312.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 482 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr311.md?full=1 bill_number: SR 311 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: resolution status_date: 2025-04-02 last_action: Senate Passed/Adopted sponsors: - Randy Robertson - Kay Kirkpatrick - Ben Watson - Blake Tillery - Lee Anderson text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SR311/2025 upstream_id: 1989292 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - addiction recovery - sober living homes - health policy - legislative study committees --- # SR 311. Senate Study Committee on Recovery Residences; create ## Text 25 LC 52 0817 Senate Resolution 311 By: Senators Robertson of the 29th, Kirkpatrick of the 32nd, Watson of the 1st, Tillery of the 19th and Anderson of the 24th ADOPTED SENATE A RESOLUTION Creating the Senate Study Committee on Recovery Residences; and for other purposes.1 WHEREAS, recovery residences provide sober housing to people in recovery and are2 generally understood to be supportive living residential environments where life skills vital3 for sustaining recovery from addiction are learned and practiced in a safe home-like setting;4 and5 WHEREAS, while recovery residences provide a useful service, th ere are concerns that,6 because of the lack of oversight, some of these facilities could prioritize financial gain over7 resident safety, costing individuals and families unnecessary expenses or providing unsafe8 environments that could lead to injury or death; and9 WHEREAS, recovery residences do not provide treatment, are not regulated, and are not10 registered with the state; and11 WHEREAS, there are an estimated 256 recovery residences located in Georgia, with the12 actual number and quality of such residences unknown; and13 S. R. 311 - 1 - 25 LC 52 0817 WHEREAS, the state has an interest in the safety of its citizen s who are recovering from14 addiction, and the Department of Community Health and the Department of Behavioral and15 Developmental Disabilities need to understand how these facilit ies work and what best16 practices are; and17 WHEREAS, it would be beneficial for policymakers to study recov ery residences,18 understand the services they provide, and recommend possible solutions for improving the19 safety at recovery residences and quality of the services they provide for citizens who are20 recovering from addiction and their families and loved ones in this state.21 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE:22 (1) Creation of Senate study committee. There is created the Senate Study Committee23 on Recovery Residences.24 (2) Members and officers. The committee shall be composed of five members of the25 Senate to be appointed by the President of the Senate and the c ommissioner of the26 Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities or his or her designee. 27 The President shall designate a legislative member of the committee as chairperson of the28 committee.29 (3) Powers and duties. The committee shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs,30 issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any action or31 legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate.32 (4) Meetings. The chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee. The committee33 may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary or34 convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and35 accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution.36 (5) Allowances, expenses, and funding.37 S. R. 311 - 2 - 25 LC 52 0817 (A) The legislative members of the committee shall receive the allowances provided38 for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.39 (B) Members of the committee who are state officials, other than legislative members,40 or who are state employees shall receive no compensation for th eir services on the41 committee, but they may be reimbursed for expenses incurred by them in the42 performance of their duties as members of the committee in the same manner as they43 are reimbursed for expenses in their capacities as state officials or employees.44 (C) The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member45 of the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized. Funds46 necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds47 appropriated to the Senate; except that funds for the reimbursement of the expenses of48 state officials, other than legislative members, and for the re imbursement of the49 expenses of state employees shall come from funds appropriated to or otherwise50 available to their respective agencies.51 (6) Report.52 (A) In the event the committee adopts any specific findings or recommendations that53 include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file a report of the54 same prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolut ion, subject to55 subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.56 (B) In the event the committee adopts a report that does not i nclude suggestions for57 proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file the report, subject to subparagraph (C)58 of this paragraph.59 (C) No report shall be filed unless the same has been approved prior to the date of60 abolishment specified in this resolution by majority vote of a quorum of the committee. 61 A report so approved shall be signed by the chairperson of the committee and filed with62 the Secretary of the Senate.63 S. R. 311 - 3 - 25 LC 52 0817 (D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Secretary64 of the Senate a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu thereof.65 (7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2025.66 S. R. 311 - 4 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia Senate resolution would create a study committee to examine recovery residences, the largely unregulated sober-living homes that serve people recovering from addiction, and recommend possible legislation. ### Plain-language summary Recovery residences are sober-living homes meant to help people recovering from addiction build life skills in a safe, home-like setting. According to the resolution, Georgia has an estimated 256 of these facilities, but they provide no treatment, are not regulated, and are not registered with the state, so their actual number and quality are unknown. Lawmakers say a lack of oversight raises concerns that some facilities could prioritize profit over resident safety. This resolution creates the Senate Study Committee on Recovery Residences, made up of five senators appointed by the President of the Senate plus the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities or a designee. The committee will study conditions and problems at recovery residences and recommend action or legislation. It can meet as needed, legislative members get standard per diem allowances, and the committee must file any findings before it is abolished on December 1, 2025. ### What it does - Creates the Senate Study Committee on Recovery Residences to examine sober-living homes for people recovering from addiction. - Sets committee membership at five senators appointed by the Senate President, plus the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities or a designee. - Directs the committee to study problems at recovery residences and recommend legislation or other action. - Provides legislative members standard travel and per diem allowances under O.C.G.A. ยง 28-1-8, capped at five days unless additional days are approved. - Requires any approved findings or legislative recommendations to be filed with the Secretary of the Senate before the committee is abolished. - Abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025, unless a report or meeting minutes are filed by then. ### Who it affects The resolution directly affects members of the Georgia Senate appointed to the committee, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, and by extension the roughly 256 recovery residences operating in Georgia and the people in addiction recovery who live in them. ### Why it matters Because recovery residences are currently unregulated and unregistered in Georgia, the state has little insight into their safety or quality. This committee's work could lead to future oversight rules affecting how these homes operate and how residents in recovery are protected. ### Key provisions - Paragraph (1) creates the Senate Study Committee on Recovery Residences. - Paragraph (2) sets membership at five senators plus the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities or designee, with the Senate President naming a chairperson. - Paragraph (3) charges the committee with studying recovery residence conditions and recommending needed action or legislation. - Paragraph (5) covers allowances and expenses, funded from the Senate's existing appropriated funds, capped at five days absent added authorization. - Paragraph (6) requires the chairperson to file any approved report of findings or recommended legislation with the Secretary of the Senate. - Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-04-02) - Last action: Senate Passed/Adopted (2025-04-02) - Sponsors: Randy Robertson, Kay Kirkpatrick, Ben Watson, Blake Tillery, Lee Anderson - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71021 > The history, votes, and amendments (482 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr311.md?full=1