HR1703: HR1703 House Study Committee on Criminal Post-Conviction Litigation; create

26 LC 65 0088 House Resolution 1703 By: Representatives Gunter of the 8th, Smith of the 18th, Leverett of the 123rd, Panitch of the 51st, Holcomb of the 101st, and others A RESOLUTION Creating the House Study Committee on Criminal Post-Conviction Litigation; and for other1 purposes.2 WHEREAS, pursuant to the Sixth Amendment of the United States C onstitution and3 Article I, Section I, Paragraph XIV of the Georgia Constitution, all persons charged with a4 crime are guaranteed the right to counsel; and5 WHEREAS, a violation of that right occurs when counsel's performance was deficient and6 that counsel's deficient performance prejudiced the accused's d efense, see Strickland v. 7 Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687 (1984); and8 WHEREAS, in Simpson v. State, 250 Ga. 365, 367 (1982), the Georgia Supreme Court held9 ineffectiveness claims should be raised in a motion for new tri al; or as held in Glover v. 10 State, 266 Ga. 183, 184 (1996), ineffectiveness claims should be raised before appeal if the11 opportunity to do so is available; and 12 WHEREAS, as a result of these cases, new counsel must be appointed to litigate the motion13 for new trial, as trial counsel cannot litigate their own ineff ectiveness because there is an14 ethical prohibition against a lawyer acting also as a witness w hen presenting a claim of15 H. R. 1703 - 1 - 26 LC 65 0088 ineffective assistance of counsel concerning the trial which he or she, himself or herself, had16 conducted, see Garland v. State, 283 Ga. 201 (2008); and17 WHEREAS, when the matter concerns a defendant who was represent ed by a public18 defender in this state, the new counsel cannot come from the same circuit public defender's19 office that handled the trial, see In re Formal Advisory Opinion 10-1, 293 Ga. 397 (2013);20 and21 WHEREAS, as a result of these appointments, time is needed for new counsel to become22 acclimated with the case and this needed time regularly causes years-long delays before the23 motion for new trial is resolved; and24 WHEREAS, the Georgia Supreme Court in Owens v. State, 303 Ga. 254 (2018), expressed25 extreme concern at the many cases taking years, and sometimes decades, between a motion26 for new trial being filed and being adjudicated and as a result formulated and adopted27 Uniform Superior Court Rule 39.1 on January 1, 2019; and28 WHEREAS, Rule 39.1 requires superior courts to provide the Georgia Supreme Court with29 a semi-annual list of all felony cases either pending judgment on a motion for new trial or30 transmission of a record on appeal in such superior court; and31 WHEREAS, the lists provided to the Georgia Supreme Court contain many cases that have 32 motions for new trial in need of resolution; and 33 WHEREAS, the current system of raising ineffective assistance of counsel claims as a part34 of the original appeal from the criminal conviction is inefficient, imposes unnecessary delays35 in resolving original appeals, has greatly complicated the provision of counsel for indigent36 H. R. 1703 - 2 - 26 LC 65 0088 defendants, and makes Georgia an outlier compared to other stat es and the federal37 government; and 38 WHEREAS, Chief Justice Nels Peterson issued a recent concurring opinion joined by six39 other justices in which he wrote of the current system, "Georgia's post-conviction litigation40 system is a mess. It's a mess in large part because of a serie s of well-meaning but41 short-sighted decisions this Court made over the course of seve ral decades." Sanders v. 42 State, No. S26A0222, 2026 Ga. LEXIS 75, at *3 (Mar. 3, 2026); and43 WHEREAS, the Chief Justice ended his concurring opinion by stating, "In short, the system44 is broken. We did a lot of the breaking. But it will require legislative action to fix it."45 Sanders v. State, No. S26A0222, 2026 Ga. LEXIS 75, at *8 (Mar. 3, 2026).46 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:47 (1) Creation of House study committee. There is created the House Study Committee48 on Criminal Post-Conviction Litigation.49 (2) Members and officers. 50 (A) The committee shall be composed of twelve members. 51 (B) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint f ive members of the52 committee as follows:53 (i) One member shall be the chairperson of the House Committee on Judiciary;54 (ii) One member shall be the chairperson of the House Committee on Judiciary,55 Non-Civil; 56 (iii) One member shall be the chairperson of the Judicial Subcommittee for the House57 Committee on Appropriations; and58 (iv) Two members of the House of Representatives.59 H. R. 1703 - 3 - 26 LC 65 0088 (C) The Speaker shall also appoint an additional seven nonlegislative members of the60 committee as follows:61 (i) The president of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, or his or62 her designee;63 (ii) The executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, or his64 or her designee;65 (iii) The president of the State Bar of Georgia, or his or her designee;66 (iv) The Attorney General of Georgia, or his or her designee; 67 (v) The Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, or his or her designee; and68 (vi) Two superior court judges.69 (D) The Speaker shall designate a legislative member of the committee as chairperson70 of the committee.71 (3) Powers and duties. The committee shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs,72 issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any action or73 legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate.74 (4) Meetings. The chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee. The committee75 may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary or76 convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and77 accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution.78 (5) Allowances, expenses, and funding.79 (A) The legislative members of the committee shall receive the allowances provided80 for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.81 (B) Members of the committee who are state officials, other than legislative members,82 or who are state employees shall receive no compensation for th eir services on the83 committee, but they may be reimbursed for expenses incurred by them in the84 performance of their duties as members of the committee in the same manner as they85 are reimbursed for expenses in their capacities as state officials or employees.86 H. R. 1703 - 4 - 26 LC 65 0088 (C) Members of the committee who are not legislators, state of ficials, or state87 employees shall receive a daily expense allowance in an amount the same as that88 specified in subsection (b) of Code Section 45-7-21 of the Offi cial Code of Georgia89 Annotated, as well as the mileage or transportation allowance a uthorized for state90 employees.91 (D) The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member92 of the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized. Funds93 necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds94 appropriated to the House of Representatives; except that funds for the reimbursement95 of the expenses of state officials, other than legislative memb ers, and for the96 reimbursement of the expenses of state employees shall come from funds appropriated97 to or otherwise available to their respective agencies.98 (6) Report.99 (A) In the event the committee adopts any specific findings or recommendations that100 include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file a report of the101 same prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolut ion, subject to102 subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.103 (B) In the event the committee adopts a report that does not i nclude suggestions for104 proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file the report, subject to subparagraph (C)105 of this paragraph.106 (C) No report shall be filed unless the same has been approved prior to the date of107 abolishment specified in this resolution by majority vote of a quorum of the committee.108 A report so approved shall be signed by the chairperson of the committee and filed with109 the Clerk of the House of Representatives.110 (D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Clerk of the111 House of Representatives a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu112 thereof.113 H. R. 1703 - 5 - 26 LC 65 0088 (7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2026.114 H. R. 1703 - 6 -