HB1154: HB1154 Criminal procedure; imposition of death penalty; include offense of trafficking of persons for labor and sexual servitude

Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 17-10-30) currently lists aggravating circumstances that let a judge or jury consider imposing the death penalty for crimes like murder, rape, armed robbery, and kidnapping. This bill would add trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude to several of those aggravating circumstance categories, meaning a person convicted of that trafficking offense could face the death penalty if the case meets one of the listed conditions, such as having a prior capital felony conviction or the offense being especially vile or torturous. The change would apply only to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026. Cases involving conduct before that date would continue under the current version of the law and would not be affected or abated by this bill.

• Adds trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude to the aggravating circumstance covering offenders with a prior capital felony conviction.
• Adds the trafficking offense to the aggravating circumstance covering crimes committed during another capital felony or aggravated battery.
• Adds the trafficking offense to the aggravating circumstance for crimes that are outrageously vile, horrible, or inhuman due to torture or depravity of mind.
• Adds the trafficking offense to the aggravating circumstance covering offenders previously convicted of rape, aggravated sodomy, aggravated child molestation, or aggravated sexual battery.
• Limits the changes to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026, leaving earlier cases to be prosecuted under the prior version of the law.

People charged with or convicted of trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude in Georgia, prosecutors and defense attorneys handling capital cases, judges and juries deciding death penalty sentencing, and victims of trafficking whose cases could now factor into capital sentencing decisions.

If enacted, prosecutors could seek the death penalty in human trafficking cases that meet specific aggravating conditions, such as a defendant's prior violent record or extreme cruelty, expanding the range of crimes eligible for Georgia's harshest criminal penalty starting July 1, 2026.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 17-10-30 to insert 'trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude' into four of the twelve statutory aggravating circumstances used to justify a death sentence.
• The aggravating circumstances affected include prior capital felony convictions, commission during another capital felony, outrageous or torturous conduct, and prior convictions for sex offenses like rape or aggravated sodomy.
• Aircraft hijacking and treason remain the only offenses for which the death penalty may be imposed without needing a statutory aggravating circumstance, per subsection (a).
• Section 2 makes the changes applicable only to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026, and preserves prosecutions for earlier offenses under prior law.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-04House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-03House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-02House Hopper (House)

• David Clark (R, HD-100)Primary sponsor
• Tyler Smith (R, HD-018)
• Joseph Gullett (R, HD-019)
• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)
• Derrick McCollum (R, HD-030)
• Karen Mathiak (R, HD-082)

• death penalty
• human trafficking
• criminal sentencing
• capital punishment law