Georgia CommonsSearch bills
Words find bills whose text, title, or summary carries them; a bill number such as HB 340 opens that bill. Search matches the words of the bill: ask in the words the bill would use.
40 bills for “Criminal procedure”.
Criminal procedure; death penalty shall not be imposed if only evidence is testimony of a single eyewitness; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in cases where the only evidence against a defendant is one eyewitness's testimony.
Criminal procedure; inclusion of certain contact information on bonds and recognizances; require
Summary by Georgia Commons: House Bill 222 would require Georgia criminal bail bonds to list the full name, mailing address, email address, and phone number of the defendant and each surety.
Criminal procedure; include aggravated assault as a bailable offense only before a superior court judge
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would add aggravated assault on a public safety officer to the list of crimes that can only be bailed out through a superior court judge, not a magistrate or other lower court.
Criminal procedure; extend retention period of evidence of sexual assault when victim elects not to immediately report assault
Summary by Georgia Commons: A House Judiciary Committee substitute for HB 626 would require Georgia law enforcement agencies to keep sexual assault evidence for 30 years, instead of just 12 months, when a victim chooses not to immediately report the assault to police.
Criminal procedure; scent of marijuana, cannabis, or hemp; provide imitations on stops, searches, seizures, or arrests
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would bar police from stopping, searching, or arresting someone based only on the smell of marijuana, cannabis, or hemp, whether burnt or not.
Conduct of Proceedings in Criminal Trials; legislative intent; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia Senate bill would change how errors are preserved for appeal in criminal trials, ending the requirement that lawyers formally 'except' to a judge's ruling and adopting a federal-style plain-error review standard.
Criminal procedure; imposition of death penalty; include offense of trafficking of persons for labor and sexual servitude
Summary by Georgia Commons: House Bill 1154 would add trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude to the list of crimes that can trigger Georgia's death penalty aggravating circumstances, applying to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026.
Criminal procedure; installation and use of mobile tracking devices by law enforcement; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would create a formal court process for law enforcement to get judicial approval before installing GPS or similar tracking devices on people, vehicles, or objects during criminal investigations.
Crimes and offenses; riot; provide for a felony penalty
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would make riot a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, up from a misdemeanor, and add it to the list of offenses subject to Georgia's special bail procedures.
Criminal Justice Coordinating Council; provide financial assistance to law enforcement agencies to equip certain motor vehicles with bullet-resistant features; establish grant program
Summary by Georgia Commons: House Bill 967 would let Georgia's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council run a grant program that helps local law enforcement agencies pay to add bullet-resistant windows and door panels to patrol vehicles.
Criminal procedure; implied consent to a drug facilitated sexual assault examination for unconscious victims of alleged sexual assault; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would let hospitals perform forensic medical exams, including a drug facilitated sexual assault test, on unconscious sexual assault victims without their consent when circumstances require quick action, and would protect them from prosecution based solely on that exam.
Criminal procedure; offenses involving a victim under 16 years of age; include offense of aggravated sexual battery
Summary by Georgia Commons: House Bill 1282 would add aggravated sexual battery to the list of sex crimes against child victims that get an extended or unlimited window for prosecution under Georgia law.
Criminal procedure; personal service of process for notice of a warrant application hearing; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: House Bill 1131 would require Georgia courts to try personal service, in addition to other approved methods, when notifying someone of a warrant application hearing or informing them of the charge against them, and it adjusts bail bond rules.
Courts; special grand jury impaneling procedures; revise provisions
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would let state elected officials, not just county or municipal elected officials, petition a superior court to impanel a special grand jury.
Criminal procedure; limitations on bars to first offender treatment for certain minor offenders adjudicated as adults; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would let judges give first offender treatment to some minors who were tried as adults for serious crimes, an option currently barred for those offenses, and would let eligible people apply retroactively.
Crimes and offenses; riot; repeal misdemeanor penalty and provide for a felony penalty
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would turn the crime of riot from a misdemeanor into a felony punishable by 1 to 20 years in prison, and would add riot to the list of offenses covered by the state's bail schedule law.
Criminal Procedure; offenses that are not serious violent felonies, sexual felonies, or other certain offenses to be charged by accusation of the district attorney; allow
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia Senate bill would let district attorneys charge most felony cases by accusation instead of requiring a grand jury indictment, while also rewriting the state's gun law preemption statute and changing who can sue over local gun rules. The bill was passed by the legislature but vetoed by the Governor.
Criminal procedure; notice upon change of date, time, or location for a required court appearance from that listed upon a uniform traffic citation; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would require court clerks to mail notice when a traffic citation's court date is changed, and would add a second warning notice before someone's driver's license can be suspended for missing court.
Criminal Procedure; pretrial proceedings in capital offense cases where the death penalty is sought when the accused has intellectual disability; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: Senate Bill 159 would create a pretrial process letting defendants in Georgia death penalty cases prove they have intellectual disability before trial, which would bar prosecutors from seeking execution if proven.
Disclosure and Dissemination of Criminal Records; a judicial procedure for purging a person's involuntary hospitalization information; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia Senate bill would replace the automatic five-year purge of involuntary hospitalization records used for gun background checks with a court petition process that people must use to get their records cleared.
Sexual Assault; the maintenance of physical evidence collected from an alleged sexual assault; extend
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia Senate bill would require law enforcement agencies to keep physical evidence from unreported sexual assaults for at least two years instead of 12 months, giving victims more time to decide whether to report.
Criminal procedure; pretrial proceedings in capital offense cases where the death penalty is sought when the accused has an intellectual disability; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: House Bill 123 creates a pretrial process for Georgia courts to decide whether a defendant facing the death penalty has an intellectual disability, and bars execution for anyone found to have one.
Courts and Penal Institutions; substance abuse programs and mental health treatment programs in county and municipal jails for inmates; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia Senate bill would let county and municipal jails set up voluntary substance abuse and mental health treatment programs for inmates, run through new drug court and mental health court procedures.
Motor vehicles; declare vehicles used in the commission of reckless stunt driving offenses contraband and authorize forfeiture
Summary by Georgia Commons: A House Judiciary Committee substitute to HB 1390 would let Georgia seize and forfeit any vehicle used in a reckless stunt driving offense as soon as the driver is convicted, without requiring a prior conviction first.
Criminal procedure; discovery in misdemeanor cases; change provisions
Summary by Georgia Commons: House Bill 525 would rewrite Georgia's discovery rules for misdemeanor criminal cases, requiring defendants who opt into discovery to share witness lists and alibi information with prosecutors in return.
Sexual offenses; modify penalty for offenders previously convicted of the offense of trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia bill would make a fourth misdemeanor conviction for certain sex offenses or crimes against persons within a ten-year period a felony, with a mandatory one to ten year prison sentence.
Pardons and Paroles; procedures when a person is denied parole after completing certain prerequisites; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: Senate Bill 25 would give Georgia inmates who complete rehabilitation programs or are serving life sentences new rights before a parole denial, including a video hearing with the full Parole Board and written reasons for any denial.
Penal institutions; inmate be allowed to dress in plain clothes during trial proceedings; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would require jail and prison inmates to wear ordinary civilian clothing, not prison uniforms, when they appear in court for trial, and would bar officers from forcing shaved or clipped heads on defendants before trial.
Law enforcement officers and agencies; require consent or a court order to withdraw blood from persons who are to be incarcerated or are to be released for DNA testing
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would require written consent or a court order before officers can draw blood from people entering or leaving state detention facilities for mandatory DNA testing.
Criminal Prosecutions; an additional justification for use of force in defense of self or others; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia Senate bill would add a rebuttable presumption that self-defense force is justified, set new rules for claiming immunity from prosecution, and extend civil immunity to the heirs of someone hurt in a justified self-defense case.
Evidence; admissibility of creative or artistic expression evidence at trial; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: A House bill would make it harder for prosecutors to use a defendant's song lyrics, poetry, or other artistic work as evidence at trial, requiring judges to presume such evidence is inadmissible unless prosecutors meet specific proof requirements.
Criminal procedure; extend certain protections for victims of family violence and stalking with respect to residential leases
Summary by Georgia Commons: House Bill 188 would let victims of family violence or stalking end just their abuser's part of a shared lease, require landlords to act on those requests, and ban landlords from discriminating against such victims.
Crimes and offenses; protective orders or consent agreements for victims against persons who have committed acts of sexual assault; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia House bill would let victims of sexual assault seek civil protective orders or consent agreements against their attackers, similar to existing family violence protective orders, with violations punishable as a misdemeanor.
Sexual Offender Risk Review Board; venue for certain petitions regarding state sexual offender registry; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: This Georgia House bill would require people petitioning to get off the state sex offender registry to notify officials in the county they plan to move to, not just where they currently live or filed the case.
Criminal Proceedings; the award of reasonable attorney's fees and costs in a criminal case to the defendant upon such defendant making a successful motion to disqualify the prosecuting attorney for misconduct in connection with the case; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons: Senate Bill 244 lets criminal defendants recover attorney's fees when a prosecutor is disqualified for misconduct and the case is dropped, and it creates a new state system to compensate people who were wrongly convicted and imprisoned.
"Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act"; establish
Summary by Georgia Commons: Senate Bill 176 would create a formal process in Georgia law for people who were wrongly convicted and imprisoned to petition a court for a finding of innocence and then receive state compensation, capped at $1 million.
Appeal and error; judgments deemed directly appealable; change a provision
Summary by Georgia Commons: House Bill 176 changes Georgia's rules for criminal appeals, creating a new process for defendants to seek late permission to appeal or request a new trial, and setting clearer deadlines for withdrawing guilty pleas.
Mandi Ballinger Act; enact
Summary by Georgia Commons: HB 1061, the Mandi Ballinger Act, would create a 15-member state committee to study raising the juvenile justice age to include 17-year-olds and report its findings by the end of 2027.
Georgia Public Safety Support Fund Act; enact
Summary by Georgia Commons: A House bill would create the Georgia Public Safety Support Grant Program, letting the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council accept private and public donations to fund equipment, training, and technology for local police, sheriffs, and courts.
Georgia Second Look Act; enact
Summary by Georgia Commons: House Bill 894, the Georgia Second Look Act, would let people serving life without parole ask the sentencing court to reduce their sentence after 20 years, with hearings, victim notice, and appeal rights.