SB383: SB383 Child Abuse; local child fatality review committees; modify the review

Georgia law already requires each county to have a local child fatality review committee that investigates certain child deaths and recommends ways to prevent similar deaths in the future. This bill rewrites the section of state law (O.C.G.A. § 19-15-3) that sets up those committees and their procedures. The bill adds a local school system representative to the list of committee members and requires agencies to send representatives to annual training, with a judge able to hold agencies in contempt of court if they do not participate. It changes the deadline for a coroner or medical examiner to notify the committee chairperson about a child's death from 48 hours to seven days, and extends the deadline for the committee to finish its written report from 20 days to 90 days. It also clarifies which sudden or unexplained child deaths qualify for review and updates deadlines for annual reports sent to the statewide Georgia Fatality Review Panel, generally by July 15 each year.

• Adds a local school system representative to the required membership of each county's child fatality review committee.
• Requires agencies serving on a review committee to send a representative to annual training or face a court order and possible contempt of court penalties.
• Changes the coroner or medical examiner's deadline to notify the review committee chairperson of a child's death from 48 hours to seven days after the death.
• Extends the deadline for a review committee to complete and prepare its report on a child's death from 20 days to 90 days after its first meeting.
• Clarifies the list of child deaths eligible for review, including sudden deaths of infants and children in apparent good health.
• Sets a July 15 deadline each year for review committees to send their annual reports to the statewide Georgia Fatality Review Panel.

County coroners and medical examiners, district attorneys, local law enforcement, county departments of family and children services, juvenile courts, public health and mental health agencies, local hospitals, local school systems, and the statewide Georgia Fatality Review Panel are all directly involved in the changes.

These changes affect how quickly local officials must report and review certain child deaths and how thorough that review can be, since committees get more time to investigate but coroners have more time to notify them. Adding school representatives could bring school-based information into these reviews.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 19-15-3, adding a local school system representative to the required membership of county child fatality review committees.
• Section 1 requires agencies to attend annual training and allows a superior court judge to order compliance, with contempt of court as the penalty for noncompliance.
• Section 1 changes the coroner or medical examiner's notification deadline to the review committee chairperson from 48 hours to seven days after a child's death.
• Section 1 extends the review committee's deadline to complete its death investigation report from 20 days to 90 days after its first meeting on the case.
• Section 1 revises the list of child deaths eligible for review, including clarifying language about sudden infant and child deaths in apparent good health.
• Section 1 sets July 1 as the deadline for each committee's annual report and July 15 as the deadline to transmit that report to the Georgia Fatality Review Panel.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 19-15-4 concerning the panel's authority to subpoena documents or witnesses when a county committee has not already done so.
• Section 3 repeals all laws in conflict with the Act.

1. 2026-05-06Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-06Act 421
3. 2026-05-06Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2026-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2026-03-18House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2026-03-18House Third Readers (House)
7. 2026-02-24House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2026-02-10House Second Readers (House)

• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)Primary sponsor
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Devan Seabaugh (R, HD-034)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 6, 2026

   48 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #523

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 18, 2026

   165 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 8 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #719

• child abuse prevention
• child fatality review
• coroners and medical examiners
• public health reporting
• school safety