HR 129: Clark, Mr. Daryl Lee; compensate

Daryl Lee Clark was convicted in 1998 of murder and conspiracy in the 1996 death of Brian Bowling and spent over 25 years in prison. In 2022 his conviction was vacated after an independent investigation revealed that key witness testimony was false or badly mistranslated and that police misconduct had tainted the case. Charges against him were dismissed and he was exonerated and released on December 8, 2022. Because Georgia has no general law compensating exonerated people (the resolution notes Georgia is one of only eleven states without such a system), this individual resolution directs the Department of Administrative Services to pay Clark $1,917,128, calculated at $75,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment. An initial payment of $632,652 would be made, with the remainder placed in an annuity paid in equal monthly installments over ten years starting in 2026. The state would get a credit against any separate lawsuit damages Clark later recovers, and any payments to Clark under this resolution would be excluded from his state taxable income.

• Directs the Department of Administrative Services to pay Daryl Lee Clark a total of $1,917,128 as compensation for over 25 years of wrongful imprisonment.
• Sets an initial payment of $632,652 followed by the remaining balance placed into a commercial annuity paid monthly over ten years starting in 2026.
• Gives the state a credit against this payment if Clark later wins damages in a lawsuit against a state official or employee arising from the same wrongful conviction.
• Continues annuity payments to Clark's estate or heirs if he dies before payments are complete.
• Excludes any money Clark receives under this resolution from his taxable net income for Georgia state income tax purposes.

Daryl Lee Clark, the exonerated individual receiving compensation, and the Department of Administrative Services, which must budget for and administer the payment and annuity. It also touches any future lawsuit Clark might bring against state officials connected to his wrongful conviction.

Because Georgia has no general compensation law for exonerated people, this resolution is the only mechanism providing Clark financial relief for decades of wrongful imprisonment. Its passage would set the payment amount, schedule, and tax treatment specifically for his case rather than under a uniform state standard.

• Recites the factual history of Clark's 1998 conviction, 2022 exoneration, and the withheld evidence and false testimony that led to it.
• Sets compensation at $75,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment, totaling $1,917,128.
• Requires an initial lump payment of $632,652, with the remainder funding a commercial annuity paid monthly over ten years beginning in 2026.
• Grants the State of Georgia a full or partial credit against this payment if Clark recovers damages in a related lawsuit, minus his attorney's fees and costs.
• Provides that payments continue to Clark's estate or heirs after his death.
• Excludes the compensation from Clark's taxable net income for state income tax purposes.

1. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (Cámara de Representantes)
2. 2025-03-04House Committee Favorably Reported (Cámara de Representantes)
3. 2025-02-05House Second Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
4. 2025-02-04House First Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
5. 2025-02-03House Hopper (Cámara de Representantes)

• Katie Dempsey (R, HD-013)Patrocinador principal
• Matt Barton (R, HD-005)
• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-012)

• wrongful conviction compensation
• criminal justice
• Georgia Innocence Project
• exoneration
• private resolution