SB482: SB482 Law Enforcement Officers and Agencies; persons requesting booking photographs to provide the first and last names of the individuals in the photographs; require

Georgia law already limits when booking photographs can be released. This bill adds new requirements for both booking photos and law enforcement videos, such as body camera and patrol car footage. Anyone requesting a booking photo would have to name the person in it and submit a notarized statement confirming the request follows the law, with knowingly false statements punishable as a crime. Requests for law enforcement videos would require either the person's name or the approximate date, time, and location of the incident. Most requests would have to be made in person, one at a time, unless made by the person depicted or their attorney, who could request in writing instead. The bill also lets state and local agencies withhold audio or video showing a person's death, with exceptions for next of kin, court-ordered release in closed investigations, and habeas corpus cases. Georgia Press Association and broadcasters' members are exempt from most of these new rules. The changes would take effect when the Governor signs the bill or it becomes law without a signature.

• Requires anyone requesting a booking photo to name the person depicted and submit a notarized statement confirming the request follows Georgia's booking photo law (O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19).
• Creates a new requirement that requests for law enforcement videos, including body camera and patrol car footage, include the person's name or the approximate date, time, and location of the incident.
• Makes it a crime, under Georgia's false statements law (O.C.G.A. § 16-10-20), to knowingly lie when requesting a booking photo or law enforcement video.
• Requires most booking photo and video requests to be made in person, one request per item, unless made by the person depicted or their attorney.
• Allows a new exemption from Georgia's Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72) for recordings that show a person's death, with exceptions for next of kin and court-ordered release.
• Exempts credentialed members of the Georgia Press Association and Georgia Association of Broadcasters from most of the new request rules.

The bill affects anyone requesting police booking photos or body camera and dash camera footage in Georgia, including journalists, attorneys, and members of the public. It also affects law enforcement agencies that process these requests, families of people who die during police encounters, and defense attorneys handling habeas corpus cases.

People seeking booking photos or police video footage would face new identification and notarization steps and could no longer submit bulk or anonymous requests by mail for most cases. Families of people who die in recorded incidents would gain new privacy protections, though courts could still order release in closed investigations if the public interest outweighs family privacy.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19 to require booking photo requesters to name the individual and submit a notarized statement, with false statements punishable under O.C.G.A. § 16-10-20.
• Section 1 requires most booking photo requests to be made in person as separate requests, except for the depicted person or their attorney, who may request in writing.
• Section 2 creates O.C.G.A. § 35-1-19.1, defining 'law enforcement video' and applying similar naming and in-person request rules to body camera and vehicle camera footage.
• Section 2 allows agencies to redact identities in released videos but bars redacting the identified individual or law enforcement personnel.
• Section 3 adds a new exemption to the Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72) for recordings showing a person's death, with release allowed to next of kin or by court order in closed investigations.
• Section 3 requires two weeks' notice to next of kin before releasing such recordings and sets exceptions for habeas corpus proceedings and press association members.
• Section 4 makes the Act effective upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without signature, applying to requests made on or after that date.

1. 2026-03-27House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-03-10House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-09House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-03-06Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
5. 2026-03-06Senate Third Read (Senate)
6. 2026-03-06Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
7. 2026-03-06Senate Tabled (Senate)
8. 2026-02-20Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Brian Strickland (R, SD-042)Primary sponsor
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)
• Blake Tillery (R, SD-019)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
• Joseph Gullett (R, HD-019)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2026

   53 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 2 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #659

• public records
• booking photographs
• police body cameras
• open records law
• law enforcement transparency