HB1518: HB1518 Criminal procedure; notice upon change of date, time, or location for a required court appearance from that listed upon a uniform traffic citation; provide

Under current Georgia law, someone who gets a uniform traffic citation must appear in court on the date listed, and if they miss it, the clerk of court sends one notice giving them 30 days before their driver's license number is forwarded to the Department of Driver Services for suspension. This bill changes O.C.G.A. § 17-6-11 to address cases where a judge changes the original court date, time, or location. Under the bill, the clerk of court would have to mail the accused notice of any changed appearance details at least 15 days before the original citation date. If the accused then misses the new, rescheduled appearance, the clerk would have to send a first 30-day warning notice and, if the person still doesn't respond, a second 30-day warning notice, before forwarding the license number for suspension. This applies to citations under the added subsection (a)(5) process, giving people two chances to respond instead of one when the date was changed by the court.

• Requires the clerk of court to mail the accused notice by first-class mail or postcard whenever a judge changes the court appearance date, time, or location listed on a uniform traffic citation.
• Sets a deadline requiring that notice to be sent no later than 15 days before the original court date on the citation.
• Creates a two-notice process (each giving 30 days to respond) before a license number can be sent to the Department of Driver Services when someone misses a rescheduled appearance, instead of the single notice used for an original missed date.
• Keeps unchanged the existing rule that license suspension follows only after the accused fails to respond within the notice periods, and that the suspension lasts until the clerk notifies the state the license should be reinstated.

People who receive uniform traffic citations in Georgia, court clerks who must send the new notices, judges who reschedule court dates, and the Department of Driver Services, which processes license suspensions and reinstatements tied to missed traffic court appearances.

Drivers whose traffic court date gets rescheduled would get written notice of the change and an extra 30-day warning before risking license suspension, reducing the chance someone loses driving privileges simply because they weren't told their court date moved.

• Section 1 amends subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 17-6-11 to add paragraph (5), requiring clerks to mail notice of any changed court date, time, or location at least 15 days before the citation's original appearance date.
• Section 1 revises subsection (b) to create a separate notice pathway (new subparagraph (B)) for citations rescheduled under paragraph (5), requiring two sequential 30-day notices before forwarding the driver's license number.
• The existing single-notice process in subparagraph (A) remains for citations where the court date was never changed from the one printed on the original citation.
• License suspensions under either pathway still end only when the accused schedules a new court date, appears in court, or the case is finally resolved and any restoration fee is paid.
• Section 2 repeals conflicting laws, a standard closing provision.

1. 2026-03-10House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-09House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-06House Hopper (House)

• Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)Primary sponsor
• Karen Lupton (D, HD-083)
• Jasmine Clark (D, HD-108)

• traffic tickets
• driver's license suspension
• court notices
• criminal procedure