HB1429: HB1429 Courts; juvenile court clerks collect and submit data regarding monetary sanctions assessed for juvenile offenders to the Administrative Office of the Courts; require

Georgia law already requires juvenile court clerks to collect certain information about children who come through the juvenile justice system. This bill amends that law (O.C.G.A. § 15-11-64) to add new, more detailed data juvenile court clerks must gather for every child accused of needing services, delinquency, or a misdemeanor or felony offense. Clerks would have to record the child's sex, age, race, the offense charged, where it happened (including whether it was in a school safety zone), who referred the case, how the case was resolved, any monetary sanctions like fines, fees, court costs, or restitution, and whether those sanctions were ever collected. This data must be uploaded at least weekly into the Georgia Juvenile Data Exchange, a state database. The Administrative Office of the Courts must compile and publicly release this data starting April 15, 2027, and every year after that.

• Adds new data collection requirements to Georgia's juvenile court clerk law (O.C.G.A. § 15-11-64) covering sex, age, race, offense, and location of the offense for juvenile cases.
• Requires clerks to record whether an offense occurred in a school safety zone and to name the referring source, including the school district if a school made the referral.
• Requires tracking of monetary sanctions imposed on juveniles, including fines, fees, court costs, restitution, and whether those amounts were actually collected.
• Mandates weekly uploads of this data into the Georgia Juvenile Data Exchange, a database run by the Administrative Office of the Courts.
• Requires the Administrative Office of the Courts to compile and publicly release the data annually, starting April 15, 2027.

Juvenile court clerks statewide, who must collect and submit the new data, the Administrative Office of the Courts, which must compile and publish it, and children involved in juvenile court cases whose personal and case information, including any fines or fees owed, would now be systematically tracked.

For the first time, the state would have a standardized, public record of how much juvenile offenders are fined or charged in court costs and whether those amounts get paid. This could reveal patterns in how monetary sanctions are applied and collected across Georgia's juvenile courts.

• Section 1 adds subsection (e) to O.C.G.A. § 15-11-64, listing ten categories of data juvenile court clerks must collect, including sex, age, race, offense, and referral source.
• Subsection (e)(7) and (8) require tracking of case disposition and sentencing details, specifically including fines, fees, court costs, and restitution amounts.
• Subsection (e)(10) requires clerks to record the collection status of any monetary sanctions, meaning whether the money owed was actually paid.
• Subsection (f) requires data uploads into the Georgia Juvenile Data Exchange at least once per week.
• Subsection (f) requires the Administrative Office of the Courts to compile the data annually and publish a public report starting April 15, 2027.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting state laws.

1. 2026-03-03House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-02-26House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-25House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-24House Hopper (House)

• Bethany Ballard (R, HD-147)Primary sponsor
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
• Rick Townsend (R, HD-179)
• Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)
• Esther Panitch (D, HD-051)

• juvenile justice
• court fines and fees
• juvenile court data
• school safety zones
• court transparency