HB1512: HB1512 Crimes and offenses; enhanced penalties when certain offenses are committed against public safety officers or code enforcement officers; provide

Georgia law already sets stiffer penalties for crimes committed against police officers, firefighters, EMS workers, jail officers, and similar 'public safety officers.' This bill adds 'code enforcement officer' as its own protected category in several of those laws and defines the term as anyone employed or contracted by a county or city to enforce health, safety, or welfare rules, such as issuing citations. It also adds a new definition of 'correctional officer' to the assault and battery statutes (O.C.G.A. Title 16, Chapter 5). The bill extends the aggravated assault and aggravated battery enhanced penalties, including mandatory minimum prison time, to cover code enforcement officers. It also rewrites Georgia's obstruction of law enforcement law (O.C.G.A. § 16-10-24) to make throwing an object at certain officers or at a vehicle they occupy count as violent obstruction, with prison terms that increase for a second or third conviction. Similar language is added to the firefighter and EMS obstruction statutes. At the same time, the bill replaces the existing enhanced misdemeanor penalties for simple assault and simple battery against public safety or code enforcement officers with the word 'Reserved,' which removes those specific provisions from the code.

• Adds a new definition of 'code enforcement officer' to O.C.G.A. § 16-5-19, covering people who enforce health, safety, or welfare rules for a county or city and can issue citations.
• Adds a new definition of 'correctional officer' to the same code section, covering people employed by the Department of Corrections or the State Board of Pardons and Paroles with arrest power.
• Extends the enhanced aggravated assault and aggravated battery penalties, including a mandatory minimum prison sentence, to crimes committed against code enforcement officers.
• Removes the existing enhanced misdemeanor penalty for simple assault and for battery against public safety or code enforcement officers by replacing those subsections with 'Reserved.'
• Rewrites the obstruction of law enforcement law so that throwing an object at certain officers or at a vehicle they occupy counts as violent obstruction, with prison terms rising for repeat convictions.
• Adds the same 'throwing an object' language to the separate obstruction laws covering firefighters and emergency medical workers.

Code enforcement officers employed by Georgia counties and cities, correctional officers, police officers, firefighters, EMS workers, and other public safety officers are directly affected, as are people charged with assault, battery, or obstruction offenses against them, since penalties and definitions change.

People who assault, batter, or obstruct a code enforcement officer would newly face the same enhanced felony penalties, including mandatory minimum prison time, that already apply for crimes against police and firefighters. Throwing an object at an officer or their vehicle would count as violent obstruction with penalties that increase for repeat offenses.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 16-5-19 to define 'code enforcement officer' and 'correctional officer' and renumbers the existing definitions.
• Section 2 replaces the enhanced misdemeanor penalty for simple assault against public safety or code enforcement officers with 'Reserved,' removing that provision.
• Section 3 extends the aggravated assault mandatory penalty scheme in O.C.G.A. § 16-5-21 to cover code enforcement officers.
• Section 5 replaces the enhanced misdemeanor penalty for battery against public safety or code enforcement officers with 'Reserved,' removing that provision.
• Section 6 extends the aggravated battery penalty in O.C.G.A. § 16-5-24 to code enforcement officers, keeping the 10 to 20 year sentence and a 3 year mandatory minimum for those 17 or older.
• Section 7 rewrites obstruction law (O.C.G.A. § 16-10-24) to add code enforcement officers to protected officials and to make throwing an object at an officer or their vehicle count as violent obstruction, with 1 to 5 years for a first conviction, 2 to 10 years for a second, and 3 to 15 years for a third or later conviction.
• Sections 8 and 9 add the same throwing-an-object language to the obstruction laws covering firefighters (O.C.G.A. § 16-10-24.1) and emergency medical workers (O.C.G.A. § 16-10-24.2).

1. 2026-03-09House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-06House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-04House Hopper (House)

• Reynaldo Martinez (R, HD-111)Primary sponsor

• code enforcement officers
• public safety officer protections
• obstruction of law enforcement
• assault and battery penalties
• criminal sentencing