HB1390: HB1390 Motor vehicles; declare vehicles used in the commission of reckless stunt driving offenses contraband and authorize forfeiture

Georgia already treats vehicles used in repeat reckless stunt driving as contraband that the state can seize and sell, under a law found at O.C.G.A. § 40-6-390.1. Currently that provision applies once a driver who has a prior conviction for stunt driving is arrested and charged with a new violation. This substitute bill rewrites that subsection so forfeiture instead depends on the driver being convicted of the new violation, not just arrested and charged with it. The rest of the law stays the same: forfeitures go through the procedures in Chapter 16 of Title 9 (Georgia's forfeiture law), and if the seized vehicle is a family's only vehicle, a judge can transfer the title to another licensed family member who needs it for work or family transportation, as long as the hardship to the family outweighs the benefit to the state. That transfer can happen only once per vehicle. All conflicting laws would be repealed.

• Rewrites subsection (c) of Georgia's reckless stunt driving law (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-390.1) to tie vehicle forfeiture to a conviction for the new offense rather than an arrest and charge.
• Keeps the requirement that the driver already have a prior conviction under this same Code section before the vehicle can be declared contraband.
• Continues to route any forfeiture through the existing procedures in Chapter 16 of Title 9, Georgia's general forfeiture law.
• Preserves the hardship exception letting a judge transfer title of a family's only vehicle to another licensed family member instead of forfeiting it, limited to one transfer per vehicle.
• Repeals any existing laws that conflict with the new language.

Drivers who have already been convicted once of reckless stunt driving and are later convicted again, their family members who may depend on a shared vehicle, prosecutors and courts handling forfeiture cases, and law enforcement agencies that seize vehicles under this statute.

Under current law a vehicle could become contraband once a repeat offender is simply arrested and charged with a new stunt driving offense. This bill would require an actual conviction first, meaning drivers would not risk losing their vehicle to forfeiture unless a court finds them guilty of the second offense.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-6-390.1(c)(1) so forfeiture applies to a vehicle operated by someone previously convicted of stunt driving who is then convicted, rather than merely arrested and charged, with a new violation.
• Section 1 keeps the reference to Chapter 16 of Title 9 as the procedure governing how the forfeiture actually happens.
• Subsection (c)(2) still lets a court transfer title of a family's sole vehicle to another licensed family member if the financial hardship of forfeiture outweighs the state's benefit, limited to one such transfer.
• Section 2 repeals any laws in conflict with the amended language.

1. 2026-02-24House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-02-24House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-20House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-19House Hopper (House)

• Inga Willis (D, HD-055)Primary sponsor
• Kim Schofield (D, HD-063)
• Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-061)
• Bryce Berry (D, HD-056)
• Betsy Holland (D, HD-054)
• Sheila Jones (D, HD-060)

• reckless stunt driving
• vehicle forfeiture
• traffic law
• Georgia motor vehicle law