HR1893: HR1893 House Study Committee on Modernizing the Discovery Process through the Use of New Technologies; create

Criminal cases increasingly involve large amounts of digital evidence, including body-worn camera footage, drone video, cell phone data, and interview recordings. This resolution notes that prosecutors, defense attorneys, and courts often store this evidence using incompatible systems like DVDs, USB drives, and various cloud services, which makes sharing and reviewing evidence inefficient. To address this, the resolution creates the House Study Committee on Modernizing the Discovery Process through the Use of New Technologies. The 15 member committee, appointed by the Speaker of the House, would include lawmakers, district attorneys, state court solicitors, and designees from the Georgia Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, defense lawyers association, prosecuting attorneys council, and State Bar of Georgia. It can meet up to four times, must file a report with any legislative recommendations, and will be abolished on December 1, 2026. The final report must be made publicly available.

• Creates the House Study Committee on Modernizing the Discovery Process through the Use of New Technologies, made up of 15 appointed members.
• Directs the committee to study how prosecutors receive, store, and release digital evidence and to evaluate systems that could reduce inefficiencies.
• Sets a limit of no more than four committee meetings, called by the chairperson.
• Provides legislative members allowances under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8 and daily expense allowances for non-legislator members under O.C.G.A. § 45-7-21.
• Requires the committee to file a report with the Clerk of the House if it approves findings or recommendations, and abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026.
• Requires the committee's final report to be made publicly available to inform future legislative and regulatory action.

The resolution affects members of the Georgia House of Representatives who will serve on the committee, county district attorneys, state court solicitors, the Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, and the State Bar of Georgia.

If created, the committee could shape future legislation on how Georgia prosecutors handle growing volumes of digital evidence like body camera and drone footage, potentially affecting how quickly cases move through the criminal justice system and how evidence is shared between agencies.

• Paragraph 1 creates the House Study Committee on Modernizing the Discovery Process through the Use of New Technologies.
• Paragraph 2 sets committee membership at 15 people, including legislators, district attorneys, state court solicitors, and designees from state courts and legal organizations.
• Paragraph 3 charges the committee with studying discovery-related problems and recommending action or legislation.
• Paragraph 4 limits the committee to no more than four meetings.
• Paragraph 5 establishes allowances and expense reimbursement for different categories of committee members, funded through House appropriations or members' home agencies.
• Paragraph 6 outlines reporting requirements, including that any report with legislative recommendations must be approved by majority vote before filing.
• Paragraph 7 abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026.
• A final clause requires the committee's report to be made publicly available.

1. 2026-03-31House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-27House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-25House Hopper (House)

• Bill Fincher (R, HD-023)Primary sponsor
• Tyler Smith (R, HD-018)
• Rob Leverett (R, HD-123)
• Clint Crowe (R, HD-118)
• Deborah Silcox (R, HD-053)
• El-Mahdi Holly (D, HD-116)

• criminal justice
• digital evidence
• court procedure
• prosecutors
• legislative study committee