HB1011: HB1011 Daren Lewis Saving Lives Act; enact

Georgia law already requires law enforcement agencies to have written pursuit policies, but this bill rewrites those rules to focus specifically on residential areas. It defines a 'residential area' as a neighborhood with a posted speed limit of 25 mph or less, or one a local government designates as residential. Police could only start a chase there if there is an immediate danger to the public or probable cause that someone in the fleeing car committed a serious violent felony, and they would have to end a chase that enters such an area once the risk outweighs the benefit. The bill also requires every state, county, and local law enforcement agency that conducts pursuits to create a pursuit review committee to evaluate each chase, and to publish an annual report on pursuit outcomes, injuries, deaths, and disciplinary actions. Starting in 2027, officers would receive new training on high-risk driving, de-escalation, and intervening when a fellow officer breaks pursuit policy. Agencies that do not adopt compliant policies risk losing state funding.

• Rewrites Georgia's police pursuit law (O.C.G.A. § 35-1-14) to restrict when officers can start or must stop a vehicle chase in a residential area.
• Requires every state, county, and local law enforcement agency that conducts pursuits to set up a pursuit review committee to evaluate each chase.
• Requires agencies to publish an annual report covering the number of pursuits, injuries, deaths, property damage, and any resulting discipline or policy changes.
• Adds a new law (O.C.G.A. § 35-8-28) requiring yearly officer training starting in 2027 on high-risk driving, de-escalation, and intervening when a colleague violates pursuit policy.
• Keeps the existing penalty that agencies failing to adopt compliant pursuit policies can lose state or state-administered federal funding.

State, county, and local police and sheriff's departments across Georgia, the officers who conduct or oversee vehicle pursuits, residents of neighborhoods where pursuits occur, and people who are chased or affected by a pursuit's outcome.

Chases through residential streets can put bystanders, pedestrians, and drivers at risk. This bill would limit when officers can start or continue such chases, create local oversight through review committees, and make pursuit outcomes public each year, changing how departments handle and account for high-speed pursuits.

• Section 1 names the law the 'Daren Lewis Saving Lives Act.'
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 35-1-14 to define 'pursuit' and 'residential area' and updates the compliance date from 2004 to January 1, 2026.
• Section 2(b)(1) bars starting a pursuit in a residential area unless there is an immediate public safety risk and probable cause of a serious violent felony under O.C.G.A. § 17-10-6.1.
• Section 2(b)(2) requires ending a pursuit that enters a residential area once risk outweighs benefit, a safer arrest option exists, or pedestrian danger rises.
• Section 2(c) requires each agency to form a pursuit review committee with authority to review body-camera footage, officer statements, and recommend discipline or policy changes.
• Section 2(d) requires an annual public report on pursuit totals, outcomes, demographics of those involved (where legally permitted), and resulting discipline.
• Section 3 adds O.C.G.A. § 35-8-28, requiring yearly training starting in 2027 on de-escalation, road hazard recognition, and intervening in a colleague's policy violations.
• Section 4 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-01-28House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-01-27House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-01-16House Hopper (House)

• Carl Gilliard (D, HD-162)Primary sponsor
• Mack Jackson (D, HD-128)
• Lydia Glaize (D, HD-067)

• police pursuits
• law enforcement policy
• public safety
• police training
• residential traffic safety