HB1283: HB1283 Family Justice Center Act; enact

Georgia currently has no statewide legal structure for Family Justice Centers, which combine victim services, social services, and law enforcement in a single location. This bill creates that structure by adding a new article to Georgia's family violence law. Counties, municipalities, district attorneys, or partnering nonprofits could establish these centers, which must be overseen by a board with representatives from law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim service groups. The bill sets rules for confidentiality of victim information, gives certain peace officers limited authority to respond to emergencies outside their normal jurisdiction while working at a center, and grants government-style immunity from civil liability to people providing services there. It also exempts many center records from Georgia's open records law and clarifies that records held only by outside partner agencies at a center are not automatically subject to criminal discovery rules just because they share a building with police or prosecutors. Separately, it extends how long police must keep untested sexual assault evidence from 12 months to 10 years.

• Authorizes counties, municipalities, district attorneys, and partnering nonprofits to create Family Justice Centers that co-locate victim services and law enforcement.
• Requires each center to have an oversight board with members from local government, law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim and social service providers.
• Gives peace officers assigned to a center limited authority to respond to emergencies outside their normal jurisdiction within the center's service area.
• Grants government employees, volunteers, and contractors at a center the same civil liability immunity as public employees, if they act in good faith and within their duties.
• Exempts many records held by center partner agencies from disclosure under Georgia's open records law (O.C.G.A. Title 50, Chapter 18, Article 4).
• Extends the required retention period for untested sexual assault evidence from 12 months to 10 years when a victim has not reported to police.

Victims of family violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, and human trafficking; county and municipal governments; district attorneys; nonprofit victim service organizations; local law enforcement agencies and peace officers; and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which will collect funding and performance data from centers.

Victims would be able to access police, prosecutors, and social and medical services in one place instead of navigating separate agencies, which the bill's findings say can retraumatize survivors. Law enforcement records at these centers would also gain new confidentiality protections, and evidence in unreported sexual assault cases would be kept far longer.

• Article 5 (new O.C.G.A. § 19-13-70 et seq.) titled the 'Family Justice Center Act' authorizes counties, municipalities, and district attorneys to establish centers, alone or with nonprofits.
• Section 19-13-72 requires a governing board of at least five members for centers run by government or a district attorney, with two-year terms and a 60-day vacancy-filling rule.
• Section 19-13-73 lets peace officers assigned to a center respond to emergencies outside their normal jurisdiction, but only in exigent circumstances, and requires them to notify the local agency once the emergency passes.
• Section 19-13-74 authorizes the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to accept and distribute state, federal, and private funds for centers.
• Section 19-13-76 bars disclosure of victim information without written consent except as required by law, while preserving existing mandatory abuse-reporting duties.
• Section 19-13-78 exempts many center records from the state's open records law (O.C.G.A. Title 50, Chapter 18, Article 4) unless the holding agency would already be covered independently.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 17-5-71 to extend the mandatory retention period for unreported sexual assault evidence from 12 months to 10 years.
• Sections 3 and 4 amend O.C.G.A. §§ 17-16-2 and 17-16-20 so that records held only by a center's partner agencies are not automatically treated as being in police or prosecutors' possession for discovery purposes, just because of shared office space.

1. 2026-05-12Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-12Act 719
3. 2026-05-12House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-04-02House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
6. 2026-03-31Senate Passed/Adopted As Amended (Senate)
7. 2026-03-31Senate Third Read (Senate)
8. 2026-03-20Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Esther Panitch (D, HD-051)Primary sponsor
• Stan Gunter (R, HD-008)
• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)
• Scott Holcomb (D, HD-101)
• Shea Roberts (D, HD-052)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2026

   163 yea, 0 nay (4 not voting, 10 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #658

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

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

   Passage As Amended: Senate Vote #898

3. PassedHouse voteApril 2, 2026

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

   Agree To Senate Amendment: House Vote #834

• domestic violence services
• sexual assault evidence
• victim confidentiality
• open records exemptions
• law enforcement jurisdiction