HB1223: HB1223 Local government; provide exemption from disclosing audio and video recordings captured by law enforcement when such recordings depict a person's death

Under Georgia's Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72), government records are generally open to the public unless a specific exception applies. This bill adds a new exception covering audio or video recordings, such as police body camera or dashcam footage, that show a person who has died or show someone in distress right before dying. Agencies would not have to release such recordings except to the deceased person's spouse, adult child, or parent, or to someone with written permission from that next of kin. In closed criminal cases, a superior court could still order release if it finds the public interest outweighs the family's privacy interest, after reviewing the footage privately and giving the family two weeks' notice. The exemption also would not block defense attorneys from getting the recordings for habeas corpus appeals. The change would apply to recordings already in government custody as of May 13, 2026, and take effect once the Governor signs it or it becomes law without a signature.

• Adds a new exemption to Georgia's Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72) letting agencies withhold recordings showing a person's death or final moments of distress.
• Limits who can get the footage without a court order to the deceased's next of kin, defined as spouse, then adult child, then parent, or someone with the next of kin's written release.
• Allows a superior court to order release in closed criminal investigations only if it finds in writing that public interest outweighs the family's privacy interest.
• Requires the recordings' custodian to give the next of kin at least two weeks' notice before any release, a period courts cannot shorten.
• Carves out an exception letting defense counsel obtain the recordings for habeas corpus or extraordinary new trial motions, but restricts further sharing.
• Applies the new rule to recordings already held by agencies as of May 13, 2026, and to any recordings received after that date.

State and local government agencies that hold body camera, dashcam, or other recording footage, families of people whose deaths were recorded, journalists and members of the public seeking such footage, defense attorneys handling habeas corpus cases, and superior courts asked to order disclosure.

Georgians seeking footage of a death, for accountability, journalism, or personal reasons, would generally be denied it unless they qualify as next of kin or win a court order. Families would gain more control over sensitive footage, while public access to some law enforcement recordings would narrow.

• Section 1 adds paragraph (53) to O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72 exempting recordings that depict a death or a person's distress immediately before death.
• Subparagraph (A) defines next of kin in priority order: living spouse, then adult child, then parent, and requires proof of the relationship to access the footage.
• Subparagraph (B) lets a superior court order disclosure in closed criminal investigations if it finds in writing that public interest outweighs the family's privacy interest, using a three-factor test.
• Subparagraph (C) requires at least two weeks' notice to next of kin before release, and bars courts from shortening that notice period.
• Subparagraph (D) applies the exemption to recordings already in agency custody as of May 13, 2026, and to future recordings.
• Subparagraph (E) exempts disclosure to defense counsel in habeas corpus or extraordinary new trial proceedings, with limits on further distribution.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as the date of the Governor's approval or the date the bill becomes law without approval.

1. 2026-03-03House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-02-09House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-06House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-05House Hopper (House)

• Joseph Gullett (R, HD-019)Primary sponsor
• Clint Crowe (R, HD-118)
• Martin Momtahan (R, HD-017)
• Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)
• Tangie Herring (D, HD-145)
• Yasmin Neal (D, HD-079)

• open records law
• police body cameras
• public records access
• privacy rights
• criminal investigations