HB 434: Crimes and offenses; offense of selling a child for financial gain; provide

Georgia law currently addresses improper advertising and payments tied to adoption placements in O.C.G.A. § 19-8-24, part of the state's adoption code (Title 19). This bill would repeal that section and move its substance, largely unchanged, into a new Code Section 16-12-6 in Title 16, the part of Georgia law dealing with offenses against public health and morals, meaning the rules on unlawful inducements in adoptions would now sit alongside other crimes. The bill also adds a clarifying provision saying that terms used in the relocated section carry the same meanings already defined in O.C.G.A. § 19-8-1, the adoption code's definitions section. It updates two other adoption statutes, on financial disclosures in adoption petitions and on court review of inducement violations, so their cross-references point to the new 16-12-6 location instead of the old 19-8-24. The changes are structural: they reorganize where the law lives and confirm it functions as a criminal offense provision, rather than rewriting what conduct is prohibited.

• Repeals O.C.G.A. § 19-8-24 in the adoption code and redesignates its text as a new Code Section 16-12-6 in the criminal offenses title.
• Adds a new subsection stating that terms in the relocated section mean the same as they do under the adoption code's definitions in O.C.G.A. § 19-8-1.
• Updates a cross-reference in O.C.G.A. § 19-8-13, on financial disclosures in adoption petitions, to point to the new 16-12-6 instead of the repealed 19-8-24.
• Updates a cross-reference in O.C.G.A. § 19-8-18, on court review of inducement violations during adoption hearings, to point to the new 16-12-6.

People involved in Georgia adoptions, including biological parents, adoptive parents, and their attorneys who must comply with rules on inducements and advertising; district attorneys who investigate suspected violations; and judges handling adoption petitions who rely on the renumbered statute.

By moving the ban on unlawful adoption-related payments into the criminal code, the bill signals it functions as a criminal offense rather than an adoption-procedure rule. Attorneys, courts, and prosecutors handling adoptions will need to reference the new section number, though the underlying restrictions themselves are not rewritten.

• Section 1 redesignates Code Section 19-8-24 as new Code Section 16-12-6 and repeals and reserves the old 19-8-24, keeping the same restrictions on advertising and unlawful inducements.
• Section 1 adds subsection (h) to the new 16-12-6, tying its terms to the definitions already in O.C.G.A. § 19-8-1.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 19-8-13(c)(4) to reference the new 16-12-6 instead of 19-8-24 for reasonable biological mother expenses.
• Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 19-8-18(a)(3) to reference the new 16-12-6 for determining whether an inducement violation occurred during an adoption hearing.
• Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (Cámara de Representantes)
2. 2025-02-27House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Cámara de Representantes)
3. 2025-02-18House Second Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
4. 2025-02-13House First Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
5. 2025-02-12House Hopper (Cámara de Representantes)

• Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)Patrocinador principal
• Mandi Ballinger (R, HD-023)
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
• Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)
• Karen Mathiak (R, HD-082)
• Kimberly New (R, HD-040)

• adoption law
• criminal code changes
• child welfare
• legal definitions