SB388: SB388 "Property Owners Protection Act"; enact

Georgia counties and cities enforce building, electrical, and other local codes, sometimes through criminal penalties or administrative fines. This bill, called the Property Owners Protection Act, changes how that enforcement works. It amends O.C.G.A. § 36-13-12 so a person can no longer be incarcerated for violating a local code, and it changes how repeat violations are counted, from every single day being a separate offense to every 30 days being a separate offense. The bill also rewrites O.C.G.A. § 36-74-26 so administrative fines for violations that threaten someone's health or safety are capped at $5,000 total rather than $1,000 per day, and fines for other violations stay capped at $1,000 total. It amends O.C.G.A. § 36-74-30 to say local governments cannot inspect or investigate residential or commercial property, including rental property, unless there is probable cause of a violation that creates imminent danger to life or health of the owner, tenants, visitors, or nearby neighbors within a mile. The bill states legislative findings about protecting property owners from what it calls overzealous code enforcement.

• Removes incarceration as a possible penalty for violating local building, electrical, or other codes under O.C.G.A. § 36-13-12, though the violation stays a misdemeanor.
• Changes how repeat violations are counted, so a new 'separate offense' occurs every 30 days a violation continues instead of every single day.
• Caps administrative fines for code violations affecting health or safety at $5,000 total, replacing a rule that allowed up to $1,000 per day.
• Requires local governments to have probable cause of a violation that creates imminent danger to life or health before inspecting or investigating residential or commercial property, including rental property.
• States legislative findings describing local code enforcement as sometimes overzealous and asserting that homes should be places of privacy free from certain government inspections.

Homeowners, landlords, and commercial property owners subject to local building, electrical, and other codes; local code enforcement officers and boards; tenants and neighbors who might report violations; and magistrate or municipal courts that hear code violation cases.

If enacted, property owners could no longer face jail time for code violations and would face lower total fines for health and safety violations. Local governments would face new limits on when they can inspect homes or rental properties, requiring proof of imminent danger rather than routine or plain-view findings alone.

• Section 1 lays out legislative findings that property owners have been harmed by overzealous code enforcement and that homes should be protected from government overreach.
• Section 2 gives the bill its short title, the 'Property Owners Protection Act.'
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 36-13-12 to bar incarceration for code misdemeanors and to count a new offense every 30 days rather than every day a violation continues.
• Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. § 36-74-26(b) to cap health or safety related administrative fines at $5,000 total instead of $1,000 per day, and keeps other fines capped at $1,000 total.
• Section 5 amends O.C.G.A. § 36-74-30 to require probable cause of imminent danger to life or health before a local government can inspect or investigate residential or commercial property, including rental property.
• Section 6 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-01-13Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-01-12Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Colton Moore (R, SD-053)Primary sponsor

• code enforcement
• property rights
• local government inspections
• building codes
• administrative fines