Comité Public Safety del Senado, 18 de febrero de 2026

Transcripción

472 turnos. Seleccione un tiempo para reproducir ese momento del video.

1. 0:15:55

   Please, we're gonna call this meeting of the Senate Public Safety Committee to order. We're gonna begin as we always do, uh, with, uh, returning, uh, some thanks and a blessing. Gonna ask our vice chairman, Senator Robertson, to do so.

2. 0:16:07

   If you're comfortable bowing your head, please do. Dear heavenly Father, we come before you today, Lord God, as your humble servants. We come ask that you open our hearts, our minds, Lord God, to the information we receive today so that we can convert it into the wisdom that's needed for us to do our jobs to serve the 11 million Georgians that you have tasked us with serving. Lord God, let us, let your light and spirit shine through us each and every day as we do our job, as we do our job in the name of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

3. 0:16:36

   Amen.

4. 0:16:37

   Amen.

5. 0:16:38

   Thank you, Senator.

6. 0:16:39

   Well done.

7. 0:16:40

   Ladies and gentlemen, we've got a full calendar today. In the back of the room, we should've had some signup sheets, uh, which are now with, uh, Kiki. If you, uh, want to speak for or against a bill, uh, we will need you to sign the right signup sheet, and please fill in all the details if you wanna be called upon. So raise your hand if you want to sign up, if you haven't already, uh, because we're gonna pull those in in just a moment. Uh, again, we've got a full calendar today of bills. We're gonna do our best to get through all of them. Uh, if for some reason we do not and we get kicked out of our committee room, we will be reconvening again on Monday at 1:00 PM, which is our normal committee time, even though that is not a full session day, but it's called the committee work day here.

8. 0:17:22

   So mark your calendars appropriately. And we're going to, uh, jump right in, and I'm gonna begin with Senate Bill 433, which is Rio's Law. Uh, Senator Strickland, uh, Mr. Chairman, uh, if you wanna come down here, 'cause I believe you have some folks who are gonna join you, you are welcome to do that.

9. 0:17:40

   And inside, uh, everybody's, uh, folders, uh, let's make sure we're all, uh, have the right version. We did have, uh, a substitute at the end, so you should all be looking at LC 63-0096S. Is that what you have there, uh, Chairman Strickland?

10. 0:17:58

    Yes, sir.

11. 0:17:59

    All right. Well, I will turn it over to you then.

12. 0:18:01

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. I bring to you Senate Bill 433. I have two guests sitting here with me that, um, they'll speak in just a moment. Ms. Leila Luna, founder and CEO of Just Be, and mother of Rio, who the bill is named after. And also to my right, Connor Tomlinson. And if you watch the Netflix show, Love on the Spectrum, you recognize him from that show. And also, just for a point of personal privilege, I've got my whole family, um, with me today as well. My oldest son, Charles Willis, my youngest son, Beecher, my wife, Lindsay, all back here as well.

13. 0:18:33

    Y'all wanna say hello, boys?

14. 0:18:35

    Hello.

15. 0:18:35

    Um, it is winter break, and they get to watch Daddy present a couple bills. And hopefully you'll be so gracious. And if you don't like these bills, vote them out today so they'll think I won. Um, but this is a, a very important bill. Um, and what this bill does is it, it creates a specialty license plate for autism. And what it'll do is be something where if you are a driver who has autism, or if you have a dependent that has autism, someone you're caring for, that could be a passenger in your vehicle. You can apply for the specialty plate. It's optional.

16. 0:19:06

    You can apply for the specialty plate. And this was done in South Carolina, um, last year, and that's one of the things Leila will talk about, the work she did next door in South Carolina. The whole goal of this, though, is to make certain that as law enforcement, anybody in public safety approaches a vehicle, that they know that someone in that vehicle may see the world through a different lens. One of the things I've learned about autism is I don't think it's a disability. I think it's a unique gift. But when someone has autism, they just don't always act the way us typical, as we call ourselves, people do.

17. 0:19:39

    We may respond differently. Someone with autism, what may be something very little for you may cause great anxiety for them. And the whole goal of this is to make sure that when a first responder is approaching a vehicle, that they have that notice that someone in that vehicle may see the world a little bit different way, and they can approach that vehicle in a different way as a result of that. Second part of the bill, which is the most important part, I think, beyond the plate, is a training component. It mandates training for all peace officers in our state. As part, part of your basic training, you'll now have a training course on autism to make sure that all of our law enforcement has, have the tools they need to understand how to interact with people, um, that are on the spectrum.

18. 0:20:18

    And so happy to get to work on this bill. And at this point, Mr. Chairman, if you'd like for me to turn it over to my two guests, or I can take questions now, uh, whatever's more appropriate.

19. 0:20:26

    Uh, why don't we start and see if the committee has any questions, uh, to the bill's author. I've got a question from Senator Robertson.

20. 0:20:35

    Thank you, Senator. I appreciate you bringing this bill forward. It, it makes a lot of sense. Um, have you had the opportunity to talk to anyone at JPSTIC about adding the additional training into the basic mandate class?

21. 0:20:46

    Yes, we have been in communications with them since we filed the bill, um, working on potentially a letter that'll confirm how much expense we'd have to add a course. What we did with the bill itself is made it just a requirement under Georgia law for peace officers. We put it underneath the code section for the training council and made this something they would implement, and we gave guidance as to what should be included with that training. Um, and so how that actually will be implemented, I'm not exactly sure yet, but we wanna make sure legally we give the, the tools there to make sure it's being done.

22. 0:21:16

    Just a quick follow-up, if I could. I know that a lot of their, uh, in-service training now is done virtually, and so every officer is required to go on, throughout the state, every peace officer is required to go online and, and get additional hours. And that may be a more cost-effective way to do it, and I think it would get it out to the thousands of officers around Georgia, uh, much faster if you get the opportunity to have that conversation.

23. 0:21:41

    I agree.

24. 0:21:41

    Thank you.

25. 0:21:42

    I've got a question from, uh, Senator Bearden.

26. 0:21:47

    Appreciate you bringing the bill. Uh, you know, kind of y'all, Senator, uh, Robertson's comments, were you looking at this to be a... Basic mandated course that would be in there? If so, how many hours? Are you looking for a more specialized type course that would be offered down at GPSC or, um, online through in-service training?

27. 0:22:06

    So my goal as the author is to make sure that I don't tie the hands of law enforcement. Um, I don't know how to best implement their training, and so what we did with the bill is made this something that is mandatory. And if you look on page four of the bill-

28. 0:22:20

    Mm-hmm

29. 0:22:20

    ... we list out what should be included, some minimum stuff, um, but we did not get so technical as to say how many hours it would be. We didn't get so far as to say whether it has to be virtual or in person. We did, though, put it as part of what is required under basic training. My... In speaking with law enforcement at every level, from our, our state folks, our sheriffs, our, our, um, local law enforcement with our cities and counties, um, I'm consistently hearing that a lot of people are already getting this training. A lot of it's being done through de-escalation training, and I've had some suggestions maybe it should be part of that.

30. 0:22:53

    'Cause you look at really what we're trying to do, the unique thing about autism, it doesn't necessarily have a look. A lot of disabilities have a look, where someone will walk up to a person and say, "Okay, this person has a disability and therefore my training kicks in." This is something where you have to be getting notice of it in advance, and then you hopefully with the training that you have, you'll know how to respond to that person. And so, um, the, my goal though is to give the flexibility. We wanna make sure training happens, but we also wanna make sure that those that are experts as to how to do it, um, are able to do that, not me as the senator.

31. 0:23:25

    Okay. Appreciate it very much.

32. 0:23:28

    And thank you for doing that. And, and you're right, uh, we do have a lot of folks that have focused and trained on helping out with anybody with special needs or gifts. And, and I really applaud you for bringing this bill forward because it, uh, it fulfills two things very important to me, both our first responders and those with special needs and gifts. And a comment that I know back in the day you were instrumental with, uh, myself and others as we passed Ava's Law-

33. 0:23:49

    Mm-hmm

34. 0:23:49

    ... uh, here in Georgia, which has been very meaningful for, uh, for families as well. So I wanna thank you for that.

35. 0:23:53

    Yes, sir.

36. 0:23:54

    Uh, okay. A question from Senator Williams.

37. 0:23:58

    I wanna thank you for bringing this bill forward. As, uh, having a autistic family member, I recognize it and recognize the needs for it. At the proper time, I wanna make a motion too, Mr. Chairman.

38. 0:24:10

    Well, at the appropriate time, I'll let you do that, but we're gonna have-

39. 0:24:12

    All right

40. 0:24:12

    ... a little testimony here first, and we've got some folks right here. And, uh, who wants to go first? All right. I'm gonna light your microphone up.

41. 0:24:19

    Okay, Mr. Chairman.

42. 0:24:20

    We have a celebrity in the house.

43. 0:24:23

    Thank you.

44. 0:24:27

    Good afternoon, Chairman Albers and members of the committee. Thank you for having me here today, and thank you, Senator Strickland, for being a champion for this important piece of legislation. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Connor Tomlinson. I'm a proud Georgian, and I have autism. Some of you may know me from the Netflix TV show, Love on the Spectrum, but I'm here today as an advocate to the autistic and neurodiverse community to speak in support of Senate Bill 433, Rio's Law.

45. 0:25:09

    Rio's Law ensures safe encounters, better outcomes, and stronger trust between the autism community and professionals that are sworn to protect. Senate Bill 433 would provide a special license plate for passengers and drivers with autism or other developmental disabilities and require training for law enforcement to help people with autism and their families feel safer and seen.

46. 0:25:43

    While I do not drive, I am often a passenger in a vehicle. As an autistic man, I understand firsthand what sensory overload and dysregulation feel like. In moments of dysregulation, I may avoid eye contact, make sudden movements, or struggle to communicate effectively. My anxiety and behaviors might prove peculiar, and I may act suspiciously.

47. 0:26:13

    And speaking as someone who is neurodiverse, under normal circumstances, if a police officer were to approach me, I would be thinking to myself, "What have I done? What did I do to get this officer's attention on me?" In the event of a routine traffic stop or an emergency situation, the likelihood of me becoming dysregulated is extremely high. It's important to understand that these responses are not signs of defiance or threat.

48. 0:26:49

    They are neurological responses to overwhelming sensory input. This legislation will better inform and prepare our law enforcement in responding and interacting with individuals on the spectrum, allowing them to do their job more effectively. But most important of all, it will give neurodiverse Georgians a chance to cooperate with our law enforcement and first responders without judgment or fear of being misunderstood.

49. 0:27:24

    Rio's Law will help build strong relationships and confidence between Georgians with autism and our first responders so everyone can be kept safe. Thank you for your time.

50. 0:27:37

    Great job, Connor. Uh, first, I'm a big fan. And secondarily, you do not have a disability, we do. Because if the world would see their lives through your lens, it'd be a much better place.

51. 0:27:48

    Thank you, sir.

52. 0:27:50

    Well said. Did you wanna say a few words? Why don't you grab that microphone right over there?

53. 0:27:53

    Yes.

54. 0:27:53

    Okay, that's fine.

55. 0:27:54

    Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for having me. I'm Leila Luna, and I'm the founder and CEO of Just Be. My dream in life was to be a mom, and my dream came true on July 2nd, 2008, when I gave birth to my son, Rio. It was the happiest day of my life. But nothing, absolutely nothing, can ever prepare you to find out that your child is special. In 2010, Rio was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. At the time, I was a single mom raising a child with autism. Uh, I knew nothing about it. The only reference I had was Rain Man.

56. 0:28:26

    What I quickly learned is that autism doesn't look like the movies. Rio is autistic, and he is non-verbal. He's seventeen years old and has never spoken to me. One night, I took Rio and his sister out to a local pizza restaurant. It took forever for us to get the food, to get seated, to get the check, and Rio became overwhelmed. The noise, the lights, and the waiting, it all became too much. He went into a sensory overload. He starts screaming and crying and banging his head. Instead of compassion, we were met with anger. People began yelling at me to control my kid, what kind of mother am I, and that he was a spoiled brat.

57. 0:28:57

    And then the restaurant kicked us out. I was in full crisis mode and complete mayday situation. I kept saying out loud through my tears, "Why can't people just be nice? Why can't they just be kind? Why can't they understand he's autistic?" I had to call my father to come pick us up. As I was crying and wiping my tears away with my daughter's bumblebee swaddle blanket, I said out loud, "Just be." I went home that night completely defeated, but when I woke up the next morning, all I kept thinking about was, what if that restaurant had known he was autistic? What if they had seated us right away?

58. 0:29:28

    What if they had been trained in autism? Would that night had been different? That was my call to action. That was the moment I knew I had to do something. That is why I started Just Be and became a 501[c][3] and dedicated to the autistic community for awareness, education, and training. As Rio grew older, bigger, and stronger, I learned another reality about autism, especially non-verbal autism. The strength, the fight or flight response, the elopement, the aggression that can come when a child is terrified and cannot communicate. One night, I was pulled over by the police.

59. 0:29:59

    Rio was sitting in the front seat. The officer didn't know anything about autism, and why would he? Rio looks typical. There's no look to autism. It's an invisible disability. The sirens and lights e- escalated. Rio began to panic. He went into full sensory overload. At first, the officer wouldn't turn off the flashing lights. Rio started attacking me. He bit a big chunk out of the dashboard. To keep him from jumping out of the car into the running-- running into traffic, I let him bite my wrist so hard that I have a permanent scar.

60. 0:30:29

    That night, in a matter of seconds, I could have lost my son. And all I kept thinking about was, "Why don't we have a way to alert officers and first responders that someone in the vehicle is on the autism spectrum?" I approached Sheriff Ritchie, who was a Mount Pleasant council member at the time and a former chief of police who's now sheriff of Charleston County, and he said immediately, "This is a no-brainer." He connected me with Representative Kathy Landing. We met. I told my-- I told them my story. That meeting became Rio's Law. Rio's Law creates an identifier license plate, not a charity plate, specifically to alert law enforcement and first responders that someone in the vehicle is on the autism spectrum.

61. 0:31:05

    This allows officers, when safe, to turn off sirens, reduce lights, and approach calmly so they know what they're walking into. Because for first responders, decisions are made in seconds. South Carolina is the first state in the nation to pass an identifier license plate like this, and we hope Georgia will be next. For the plate, you must have the diagnosis to obtain it. Parents, caregivers, and family members can obtain the plate even if the individual with autism is not the driver. That is a game changer because individuals like Rio will never drive. A non-verbal autistic individual with sensory overload may appear non-compliant, aggressive, or drug-induced.

62. 0:31:42

    Many are on medications. Pupils are dilated. They may run. They may reach for a shiny object like a badge or a cell phone near the officer's weapon. A person with autism, even if they have language, they will lose all language in a sensory overload s- uh, situation, and they will not be able to pass a field sobriety test. Imagine trying to control a seventeen-year-old, six-foot, superhuman strong autistic individual who cannot communicate. If the wrong decision is made and someone gets hurt or worse, we've seen it on the news way too many times.

63. 0:32:13

    And then what happens? The officer loses their career, li- lives with lifelong trauma, and departments face devastating lawsuits. Some may argue that this legislation would put-- would make autistic individuals a target. However, the plate is optional, and they would be no less exposed than a handicapped individual or a disabled veteran. 25 to 35% of autistic individuals are non-verbal. A large component of these folks will never drive or will never have a state ID. A person with autism is not disabled.

64. 0:32:44

    But when a sensory overload kicks in, they shut down. Most individuals with autism are fully able. It's just when they have the overload. In addition, Senate Bill 433 would make autism and developmental disabilities training mandatory for first responders across Georgia. And this measure is on track to pass South Carolina this year. So why training? Well, most people don't understand what it's like and what safety measures you have to take when you have a child with profound autism like Rio. How do you explain the locks on the outside of the bedroom doors?

65. 0:33:16

    How do you explain the chained refrigerators, holes in the walls, and all the windows nailed shut? It's hard, and it's embarrassing to explain, and we don't want the attention. We don't want the neighbors to know, so we don't call the police. Training is so important. If families knew that police and fire were trained, they would be less hesitant to call. Training ensures that families like mine will never have to face these moments alone again. Just Be has trained Charleston Police Department, the largest police department in South Carolina, Mount Pleasant Police and Fire, Hanahan First Responders, Charleston Airport Authorities, and we're on our way to be training-- to start training North Charleston First Responders.

66. 0:33:52

    Because autism is the fastest-growing developmental diagnosis in history. According to the CDC, it's one out of every thirty-one children, one out of every forty-five adults. So if not now, when? When it's one in five, or when it happens to your family? When do we protect one of the most vulnerable communities there is? Rio's Law is not just legislation, it's protecting the autistic community and being Rio's voice and being the voice of the voiceless. Time and training saves lives, and Rio's Law will save lives.

67. 0:34:25

    Thank you.

68. 0:34:26

    Thank you for your great- thank you for your great initiative and your tireless advocacy. Uh, we've got, uh, two other people, uh, signed up to say a couple of words, uh, that can go to the podium. Uh, I would encourage you to be brief, uh, because you don't wanna talk us out of this. Uh, Tripp, uh, from Frontline.

69. 0:34:43

    He's- he's got a question.

70. 0:34:44

    Okay. Let's let- let's let them talk first.

71. 0:34:46

    Sorry.

72. 0:34:49

    Good afternoon, Chairman and members of the committee. My name is Tripp Richardson, and I'm here today with Frontline Policy in support of SB 433, Rio's Law. I wanna thank you for the opportunity to speak as well. At its heart, this bill is about safety, understanding, and dignity for Georgia residents with autism and developmental disabilities. Too often, individuals with these conditions experience misunderstandings during law enforcement encounters that can escalate simply because a lack of clear information or specialized training.

73. 0:35:19

    Rio's Law offers two practical solutions. First, it creates a voluntary specialty license plate that can signal to first responders that someone in the vehicle may have autism or a developmental disability. Second, it requires law enforcement training on how to recognize, communicate with, and safely interact with these individuals. This is not about singling anyone out. It's about the right response. It helps officers do their jobs better and helps our special needs community feel safer. This bill's- this bill also protects the integrity of the system while helping those who truly need it by requiring proper medical verification for the plates and including penalties for misuse.

74. 0:35:58

    For Georgia families raising children or caring for loved ones with developmental disabilities, this bill provides peace of mind. It shows that our state recognizes their realities and wants safer outcomes for everyone involved. We are grateful for Senator Brian Strickland for bringing this bill forward, and I respectfully ask for your favorable consideration in support of SB 433. Thank you. Thank you, Tripp. And we're gonna bring up Ashley with the Paulding County Sheriff's Office.

75. 0:36:28

    Or the sheriff, I should say.

76. 0:36:29

    Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Members, I appreciate this opportunity. I know, uh, quite a few of you have, uh, been behind the badge at some point in, in your career, and we appreciate that service. So I'll be brief with my remarks. Um, the Georgia Sheriff's Association as well as, uh, the Paulding County Sheriff's Office are in complete support of this bill. I wanna thank Senator Strickland for bringing this bill. It's kind of like having a crystal ball, y'all. If you've ever pulled over a car at night, you don't know what you're getting into. But at least with this, if we can look at that tag, 'cause that's probably one of the first things we're gonna look at when we pull over a car is the tag. If we can see on that tag, hey, this is an autism plate, there's one thing that we don't have to worry about, is we know what we're getting into.

77. 0:37:03

    We know we're gonna get into someone who maybe have an issue. Maybe they have echolalia. Maybe they have another trigger. Um, and so if we know that going into it, it gives us that opportunity. So Senator Robertson and Senator Bearden brought up some good points a minute ago. Um, we're already taking autism and de-escalation training per the governor's initiatives. I told Senator Strickland what we should do is just add a small component in there in that training about the tag, and this is online-based training that we can deliver. Just add that small snippet in there, and I think it covers what we would need in the bill because we're already getting really good training, uh, in that, in that bit. So thank you so much for the time.

78. 0:37:35

    Um, if anybody's got any questions for me, I'd be happy to entertain them.

79. 0:37:37

    Well, thank you for your testimony and your service.

80. 0:37:40

    Yes, sir.

81. 0:37:41

    Seeing none, thank you. I think, uh, Senator Bearden has one question for you, Laela.

82. 0:37:45

    Ms. Laela, just a quick question. Uh, totally support the bill. I used to be the executive director of the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, so training is something that I'm very much, uh, interested in. What you're describing does sound like de-escalation training. Is that what Charleston put this training under when they did it in South Carolina? Was that part of their training for de-escalation?

83. 0:38:05

    It was just for autism and neurodiversity training. It wasn't just classified as de-escalation. We learned everything because there's more components than de-escalation. There's a, a heavy component of trafficking, child abuse, elderly abuse, suicide. So autism with the rate of, it's so prevalent, so a lot of this training, officers really wanted to learn more about it. It was very effective, and they were very appreciative.

84. 0:38:32

    Okay. A- and I guess that's what I was trying to get to, 'cause of the situation that you explained. An officer walks up on that. That would put the officer, of course, on very high alert. So I was just trying to figure out or get a better understanding on that de-escalation process, especially from the officer's standpoint.

85. 0:38:47

    I think there's, the biggest component is always gonna be de-escalation, but also just understanding and getting that trust and learning these families. Some officers get a call every week to the same house. Learning how to get into their world, learning how for the families to trust the officers and the individuals so as to not to be so scared.

86. 0:39:08

    Okay. I, I appreciate it very much.

87. 0:39:10

    Thank you.

88. 0:39:11

    All right.

89. 0:39:15

    Any other further comments from the committee members? Seeing none, I'm gonna represent, uh, or rep- represent, recognize, uh, Senator Williams for a motion.

90. 0:39:23

    I'll make a motion do pass.

91. 0:39:25

    Got a motion do pass. Do I have a second? I got a second from Senator Jackson. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

92. 0:39:31

    Aye.

93. 0:39:32

    All opposed, please say no. Passes unanimously. Congratulations. Best of luck in the Rules Committee.

94. 0:39:42

    All right, Senator Strickland, don't go too far, uh, because we're gonna have your next bill in front of us here, uh, which is going to be Senate Bill 482.

95. 0:39:53

    Thank you, members of the committee. I go from my license plate bill to mugshots. So brief history. I know the hour's late. Um, this is not Judiciary Committee, so we don't go on for four hours. But when I first came to the State House, um, my first year, we passed a bill that Representative Roger Bruce had at the time- And it was Code Section 10-1-393.5. And what it did is it made it illegal for someone to take an arrest image or a mugshot, it's called arrest image in the code, and put that online- ...

96. 0:40:29

    and then charge somebody for taking that down. And w- in that law, we actually set forth a process back in 2013 that said that if you c- if you can write these individuals, certify a letter, and you identify the fact that your case was dismissed, you did first offender, never went to trial, basically anything but guilty outside of first offender, that they must take it down within a certain period of time, and they obviously can't charge you for that. We also gave jurisdiction to the attorney general's office, uh, pursuant to Georgia's Fair Business Practices Act to go after these online companies that were sitting there taking people's images, put them on one website, making you pay to take it down, then up it pops up on another one.

97. 0:41:11

    And so that was in 2013. The next year I brought a bill as a baby House member to go a step further and we passed, uh, the Code Section 35-1-19. And what that did is I got to more of the supply side of the images. At that point, this bill made it illegal for a sheriff to ever put an image online, because a lot of officers are doing to avoid all the open records requests, was putting every image online of everybody that's been arrested. There's exceptions where basically someone is being searched for that has escaped or you have, um, a sex offender registry.

98. 0:41:44

    So there's exceptions built in.

99. 0:41:46

    Mm-hmm.

100. 0:41:46

     But we dealt with the, the supply side. We also required a statement be submitted, um, confirming you'd plied, comply with the 2013 law if you're gonna take somebody's image. And so we could also get some on the record, hope to find people we could prosecute that were taking these images and using them for entertainment. Problem we have moving forward now is the process continues. There are people in our state and around the country or around the world who use arrest images for entertainment. They take someone in their most vulnerable position and someone that is, that is innocent until proven guilty, they take your image and they go and get it from a sheriff.

101. 0:42:21

     They harass our sheriffs, request every image of everybody that was ever arrested. Any of y'all get arrested, you might get a request from me or somebody for the AJC, right? But these are everyday people that it's not even newsworthy. It's not legitimate press, and they make money off this. They have advertisements and they still sometimes charge to have your image taken down, and it's gotten completely out of hand. And, uh, we have tried for years to figure out how to really address this, because you do have obviously first amendment issues that come up. I've worked in the off season with our sheriffs in particular, heard their concerns about the amount and the volume they have of coming in to open records requests.

102. 0:42:59

     Also, their concerns that they may get someone's image and release it, and what if it's got the wrong crime tied to it and they get blamed? Or what if that person was truly innocent and was released the next day? The sheriff gets blamed for having the image. And so I bring to you our third attempt, at least in my time up here, to address this issue with Senate Bill 482. What this bill does is because of the fact that we already have some laws on the books and jurisdiction for our attorney general's office to go after these folks, we're gonna make sure we know exactly who's getting these images.

103. 0:43:33

     So what this bill does is it takes our current law, really the 2014 law, and says that if you're gonna request an arrest image, that you're gonna identify the person you want the image of, so you need to have their first and last name, and, um, you also are gonna submit a notarized individual statement in person when you request that image. The whole idea is we will now know who these people are. They'll have to come to a sheriff's office, request the image, sign a notarized statement when they get it. And then if they go and take these images and start making money off it, they can be prosecuted and sued civilly in our state, and that is my goal with this bill.

104. 0:44:08

     My goal with this bill is to shut down the whole industry of entertainment off arrest images. We also included in this bill, in the substitute b- um, let me make sure I get the right substitute. I'm working off of 620415S.

105. 0:44:22

     Correct.

106. 0:44:24

     I should have started with that. We also added videos that are requested from law enforcement as well. There are people out there that thinks, that think it's entertainment and it's fun to post videos, um, whether it be, um, cameras that, um, officers have body cam footage of individuals and put that online for everybody to see as well and for entertainment purposes. And so again, nothing keeps you from going and getting these images. Nothing keeps you from getting these videos, but you're gonna have to go and do it in person and sign notarized statements we know exactly who you are.

107. 0:44:54

     And my hope is this also eases the burdens off of our sheriffs who are dealing with all these open-ended requests for images as well. That's the bill. Mr. Chairman, happy to answer any questions.

108. 0:45:05

     Great job, uh, Mr. Chairman. I'm going to turn it to the committee for questions. Got a question from Senator Robertson.

109. 0:45:13

     Chairman Strickland, the, the thing you did on the videos and the other thing, is there anything right now in this legislation that would prohibit any Georgian from fi- filing an open records request asking for specific information related to a person they could identify?

110. 0:45:27

     Absolutely not.

111. 0:45:28

     So if it was so important that they needed it, they could go through the-

112. 0:45:32

     Mm

113. 0:45:32

     ... the legwork of doing that, right?

114. 0:45:34

     That's exactly right.

115. 0:45:35

     And is it not true that you and I have had several conversations about the fact that almost 100% of these publications that we see out there are people who are only accused, not of people who have been convicted of anything, correct?

116. 0:45:48

     That's correct.

117. 0:45:49

     Thank you.

118. 0:45:51

     I got a question from Senator Goodman.

119. 0:45:54

     I just, I just wanna say thank you for bringing this bill. It's something that I see online all the time. We had a, an elderly lady in our community that had some health problems and, uh, you know, under the care of a doctor and, um, w- Probably one of the most devout Christian grandmothers that you would ever know in rural Georgia. And, you know, she, uh, had an altercation where, um, she was arrested, and next thing you know this, uh, 75-year-old grandmother is all over the internet. And I can just tell you, uh, I probably can't say, uh, in, in this, uh, committee how, how the people in our community felt about that.

120. 0:46:31

     Uh, and I probably can't say it nice enough, so I'll just re- refrain. But I just wanna say thank you for bringing this bill because this stuff that's going on is wrong. I mean, anybody that can defend it, uh, I don't know how they can. And with that, Mr. Chairman, whenever the appropriate time comes, I'd like to make a motion to pass.

121. 0:46:49

     I appreciate that. We got a few folks signed up to speak, but we will get back to you. Other questions from the committee members to the bill's author? Okay, seeing none, if you just wanna stay there, Senator.

122. 0:46:59

     Yes, sir.

123. 0:47:00

     Uh, if I can have the folks who signed up for this bill kind of gather their way over there just to make it a little quicker and easier. We'll begin with, uh, Reagan Marsh. And when you come up to the podium-

124. 0:47:08

     Do I have to-

125. 0:47:08

     ... just please announce your name and who you are representing.

126. 0:47:13

     Uh, thank you Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. My name is Reagan Marsh. I'm here... Uh, I'm with Troutman Pepper, but I'm here on behalf of the Georgia Press Association, which represents Georgia legal organs here in the state. Um, we, we see, uh, we, we see a lot of these bills around mugshots, and we've seen them throughout the years. Uh, I will echo, um, what the bill sponsor described as efforts to reign in some of these abusive practices, and we support that at the Georgia Press Association. What I would like to ju- just ask this committee to consider is that as we put these hurdles up for these bad actors, we're also putting hurdles up for, uh, our legitimate press, our newspapers, legal organs, broadcasters, and frankly, Georgia citizens, that they own these records and they should have a right to access them.

127. 0:48:00

     So I would ask as we move through this process... And, and it's hard to do. I mean, we've gone back and forth on some language in the last couple days, and finding that balance is hard. But I would just ask that we continue to have that conversation and try to figure out a way to make sure we, we address the bad actors, but let our average Georgia citizens still have access to open records.

128. 0:48:20

     Thanks. Thank you, Reagan. You get one question here from-

129. 0:48:23

     Yes, sir

130. 0:48:23

     ... Senator Robertson.

131. 0:48:24

     To my good friend who prosecuted a lot of cases in-

132. 0:48:27

     Yes, sir

133. 0:48:27

     ... in my town. Uh, Reagan, would you agree when I, when I talked to Senator Strickland about the open records request, that Georgia does have a pretty strong sunshine law, and that they have the opportunities, our, our legitimate press-

134. 0:48:39

     Yes, sir

135. 0:48:39

     ... has the opportunities that, to prohi- to prevent government from holding things back?

136. 0:48:43

     Yes, sir.

137. 0:48:44

     That if they need mugshots, if they need body cam video, as long as the investigation is complete, all that stuff is accessible. But even prior to that, there's information accessible to the legitimate media that they're able to get and report back to the citizens already.

138. 0:48:58

     I, I think we have a very open government here.

139. 0:49:00

     Yes.

140. 0:49:00

     And I think we've got good open records laws. Um, you know, this, this, on, on, on this particular type of open record, this puts some, this puts some hurdles on there. And it applies to everybody, not just the folks misusing it.

141. 0:49:13

     I agree. Thank you.

142. 0:49:14

     Thank you.

143. 0:49:15

     Thank you for your testimony. Okay.

144. 0:49:17

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

145. 0:49:17

     Next up, Sheriff Freeman. Come on down, my friend.

146. 0:49:22

     Thank you, Chairman. Uh, ladies and gentlemen of the committee, uh, I'm Ron Freeman. I'm the president of the Georgia Sheriff's Association. I'm also the sheriff of Forsyth County, Georgia. I wanna share with you just a little bit about this bill. Um, first, Georgia Sheriff's Association, the sheriffs are in support of this bill, clearly. There's some things that you may not be aware of, and I'm just gonna be very quick and try to, try to get through some of this. Uh, one of the things we deal with consistently is not only are these things being posted and our citizens coming back, and again, he is exactly right, "Why did you put my mugshot on the, on the internet when the case was dismissed against me the day after it was filed?" I didn't.

147. 0:49:59

     Uh, but I don't have a choice in the current law as to provide that under an open records request. Uh, and what we get is, "I don't want the, uh, the, the mugshot of Ron Freeman, I want all your mugshots for the last 22 days. I want all your police pursuits for the last six months." Uh, and what we see also on that is bail bond scams. A, a mugshot gets posted, somebody calls the family 'cause they now see the name and the charge they have, and they go, "Hey, I know he's outta jail, but I'm the bonding company, and we accidentally undercharged you by $1,000.

148. 0:50:30

     We're gonna have to put him back in jail unless you pay us $1,000." And that is a critical point. We see it in funerals, we see it in the bonding scams. Families are scared, so what do they do? They do something they normally wouldn't. They pay a scammer $1,000. So we see that happening. Uh, it's pervasive in its use. A- and, but here's where I will come with you if you haven't thought this way. These organizations are using county taxpayer dollars to do something they could not do otherwise. We get... I, I'll use my, my agency example. I have four full-time employees who do nothing but open records.

149. 0:51:03

     I will get a request that says, "I want all your pursuits and use of forces for the last three months, all the video of those, those incidents." They don't define what incident, just in general. That is likely 100 to 120 hours of video. We have to watch every minute of... My, my folks have to watch every minute of that because there may be PII, personal identifying information, that, that we have to be able to redact out of that. I can only charge them the lowest hourly rate of the lowest paid employee who's capable of doing that task. So for me, that's like 16 bucks an hour.

150. 0:51:34

     Right? I... And Forsyth County taxpayers are paying 42% fringe on that that I cannot charge. So I've got an employee who spends 100 to 120 hours at $16 an hour. Please tell me where in the market you can get somebody who's capable of redacting and going through video for $16 an hour flat. But Forsyth County taxpayers, or fill in the 158 other counties in the state of Georgia, are paying for that. Fif- they get the first 15 minutes free, right? We all know that, and I'm not, I'm not opposing that.

151. 0:52:04

     Um, arrested persons, uh, i- in this method that's out there now and this madness that's out there now, have no easily discernible way to get their stuff off. But yet I can tell you I have personally seen arrests that happened in Forsyth County, their photo went up, the case was not dismissed, but the photo came down I don't know why, but I certainly question why. But others, if I want it off, how do I get it off? I don't know how to contact them. I don't know how to reach someone to do those things.

152. 0:52:36

     I, I will say in my place, and I know the gentleman before me, no sheriff is for reduced government transparency. By no means are we saying that. County taxpayers, the criminal justice system, victims, and even defendants have a right to access the information they need for their wellbeing in the criminal justice system, maybe a civil suit, or their just general knowledge, and we're not opposed to that in any way, shape, or form. It is these for-profit actors that have, have created this. Uh, I- I'm glad that we added the video, because that is a huge piece of what we see. Uh, sheriffs across the state are dealing with this.

153. 0:53:07

     Uh, and again, taxpayers are paying the penalty for someone to be able to make money for entertainment purposes and not a legitimate criminal justice purpose or a need by a citizen. Uh, I- I- I will, I will end with that and tell you again, we are 100% in support of that, and I'll be glad to answer any questions you might have.

154. 0:53:28

     Thank you, Sheriff. Uh, seeing none, uh, we'll let your next sheriff come in.

155. 0:53:31

     All right.

156. 0:53:32

     Appreciate it.

157. 0:53:36

     All right. Good afternoon again, Mr. Chairman, members. I'm Ashley Henson. I'm the, uh, Sheriff of Paulding County. And I'm not gonna beat a dead horse with what Sheriff Freeman said, but monetization of someone else's misery is not right. It is 100% not right, and we've gotta do something about this, and I applaud Senator Strickland for bringing this to the committee, and I hope it gets past this committee, because this is not right. And I'm gonna give you a couple quick stories. I had, had an individual who got, uh, charged with theft of mislaid property. This fella came in, he turned himself in, came to our jail, and in the booking process, one of our employees, and I had to fall on the sword because we fouled up, okay?

158. 0:54:11

     This guy got the charge of rape keyed into his booking report.

159. 0:54:15

     Mm.

160. 0:54:15

     He didn't rape anybody. But guess what happens? This gets pushed out to our little friends on the online world, and this poor fella is getting just destroyed. He's a community coach. Is he a thief? Maybe, maybe not, but he's certainly not a rapist. And this poor guy got destroyed on social media. And when we reached out to this organization, guess what? Crickets. Not one thing. Myself, I called, I emailed, not that I'm special, but I'm the Sheriff of Paulding County. You would think they'd be a little bit more responsive. Not one thing. This poor guy got ruined over our mistake.

161. 0:54:47

     100% our mistake, and we owned it. But that's the problem with these folks. They don't respond. And like Sheriff Freeman said, sometimes they do. Maybe there's money involved, maybe there's not. But I'm gonna give you one more quick story. We had a young man who was arrested and charged with child molestation of his own child. This kid sat in our jail for a couple weeks. He had a first appearance hearing. Um, because of some venue issues, um, the charges were thrown out. This guy didn't commit child molestation on his own child. And guess what happens? He is getting destroyed on social media. Do you think this organization took those images down?

162. 0:55:19

     Sure didn't.

163. 0:55:20

     Mm.

164. 0:55:20

     Y'all, we have got to do something about this. This is a rampant problem. Monetization of someone's misery is not what we're in the business of. We are not here to give these YouTubers content, and we've got to act now, and we've got to act strongly. This is bipartisan. I don't know of a person in the state of Georgia that this does not affect. And so, um, I appreciate your time. I appreciate, again, Senator Strickland for bringing this measure in front of you. Uh, but if there's any questions for me, I'd be happy to answer them, but thank you for your consideration.

165. 0:55:47

     Thank you, Sheriff Henson.

166. 0:55:48

     Yes, sir.

167. 0:55:48

     I appreciate it. All right. Uh, Jeremy, why don't you come next? And I'm gonna ask everybody to, to get their comments a little tighter, just because we've got several more bills we need to get through.

168. 0:55:58

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for having me. Uh, Jeremy Collins. I'm here representing the Georgia Association of Broadcasters. I believe most of you know that's all the local radio and TV stations in the state of Georgia. I wanna thank, uh, Chairman Strickland for working with us in the last, uh, day or two on trying to find language to what we would like to make sure is in code to protect, um, news organizations gathering news. A lot of times our local radio and TV stations, they work with lo- local law enforcements. You could have a situation where there's Ebola out, and there's constant communications.

169. 0:56:29

     It's a little bit different between the national media and the local media. There's that relationship there, and we wanna make sure that's in there. And the chairman's worked with us. Um, and the, and Chairman Albers has worked with us today on trying to find that right language. And we've been creative, um... I'd say we've been pretty creative in the last 24 hours, and I'll keep it, um... We understand there's bad actors, and we've heard, I've heard it several years in a row, and we understand it needs to be addressed. And we just wanna make sure that the news organizations, um, can still do their job and gather the news, and, and make sure that, um, your everyday citizen-

170. 0:57:04

     Mm

171. 0:57:04

     ... can also have access to that, um, that information as well. I'll leave it at that and continue to work with the author and the chairman, and appreciate... Happy to take any questions, but appreciate your time.

172. 0:57:13

     Thank you, Jeremy. All right. Uh, Wade, is that you? Come on down.

173. 0:57:19

     Good afternoon, everybody. Wade Askew from Gold Dome Partners, representing Georgia Justice Project. I'll be very brief, because I can't put it better than the sheriffs and others who spoke before me. We are in strong support of this bill. As you may know, Georgia Justice Project represents hundreds of people every year who are trying to move on from a past arrest. And as you might imagine, and as you've heard illustrated, uh, this is an issue that comes back again and again and again for clients who contact our office. We've heard about how prior efforts are, frankly, not fully addressing the issue, uh, because these companies have workarounds.

174. 0:57:53

     So we do believe that the current, uh... We recognize that booking photos are open records. They are subject to open records requests. And so we do believe that the current provisions do a good job to make sure that things are truly newsworthy when people actually have an individual that they need footage on or a photo of, uh, that that is accessible. But we, this, we think, is the best way, uh, to rein in, uh, these practices that have ruined a lot of lives, frankly. Thank you.

175. 0:58:20

     Thank you for your comments. And last person signed up, uh, Deborah Storm, it looks like?

176. 0:58:27

     Not Bill. Okay. All right, very good. All right. I think we got all testimony. Any final comments, uh, Senator Strickland?

177. 0:58:34

     No, sir. I can't say it better than everybody else. I think it's a great bill. Ask for your favorable consideration.

178. 0:58:38

     I'm gonna recognize, uh, Senator Goodman then. I believe he had a motion.

179. 0:58:42

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to make a motion to do pass.

180. 0:58:45

     Motion to do pass.

181. 0:58:45

     Second.

182. 0:58:45

     Do I have a second? I got a second from the vice chairman. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

183. 0:58:51

     Aye.

184. 0:58:51

     All opposed, please say no. Passes unanimously. Congratulations.

185. 0:58:54

     Thank you.

186. 0:58:54

     Thank you.

187. 0:58:55

     Appreciate y'all's time today.

188. 0:58:57

     All right. Uh, we're gonna try to continue to move on, uh, as quick as possible so we can hear all these important bills. Next, we're gonna have, uh, Senate Bill 399, which is the Mason Sells AED Coordination Act.

189. 0:59:13

     Senator Harbin, if you wanna come down to the front here with your guests.

190. 0:59:21

     You good? Okay. There we go. And then we're gonna skip down after that to, uh, Senator Cowsert, uh, for 468.

191. 0:59:29

     Ready.

192. 0:59:30

     All right. All right. Senator, I'll turn it over to you.

193. 0:59:35

     Thank you. Thank you, Senator Albers. You have been great in helping me with, uh, SB 399, and, um, just phenomenal in that. I wanna thank Scott S- uh, Sells for being willing- with us today, and, uh, also, I wanna thank Skylar Whitaker with, uh, GAEMA. She worked with us and helped us work this bill together, uh, from that standpoint. Um, this bill is really about 911. You know, you call 911, and you're looking for help and what's going on, and what was discovered is that, uh, on many of our university campuses, the locations of AEDs specifically are not recorded anywhere.

194. 1:00:13

     And what, uh, the story that I'm gonna allow him to tell is that, uh, his son was, um, um, involved with a, an, a- where, an accident where his heart stopped, and they could not find an AD- an, an AED, uh, at that time. Um, there is, um, w- was not c- the coordination between the 911 operator and really didn't know where they were. So th- what this is is the Mason Sells AED Coordination. It's to coordinate this with the 911 and know where those are on our college campuses.

195. 1:00:46

     Um, we have CPR, telephone CPR training. This would also w- uh, allow for AED, uh, the AED training as well. The real question is where are they located? And when a call comes in, they know usually where the person is, but where is the equipment that makes a difference? Um, um, Senator Albers, uh, your comment this morning I had not thought about is CPR is good, and it keeps the heart moving, the blood moving, but only the AED brings it back to life and brings it and makes it happen as far as that.

196. 1:01:19

     Uh, what it requires a little bit, it's gonna require some training, and that we've already talked through as far as that. The current training in place does not include AED, and what would be, uh, done is that would be added to from that standpoint, that they would be trained on that. Um, I think this is, I, I have three things: location, operation, life saved, and I really think those are the things that this bill would do just simply by coordinating the tools that we already have in place from that standpoint, so that when you dial 911, they can give you direction and know what needs to be done.

197. 1:01:54

     Thank you for bringing this important bill forward. Thank you for working with, uh, Georgia Emergency Communications, uh, and all the interested parties in this. And, uh, uh, as we say all the time, mostly Senator Robertson and I, uh, our communications officers, our 911 dispatchers-

198. 1:02:09

     Absolutely

199. 1:02:09

     ... uh, are a key part of that four-legged stool with your first responders, and giving them that extra training but also having that knowledge to communicate to, uh, the folks calling in is critically important.

200. 1:02:18

     Yeah.

201. 1:02:18

     Would you please introduce your guest so we can hear their testimony?

202. 1:02:22

     This is Mason Sells' father, uh, Scott, and I'd asked him to be. He came to me two years a- probably two years ago with the story, and I just never thought about it. And then, uh, I've got six kids, and I understand grandkids and all the other things and how critically important just the coordination of what we have is, and I'm gonna let you kind of tell your story. Is that fair?

203. 1:02:43

     Yes, sir.

204. 1:02:44

     Thank you, sir.

205. 1:02:44

     Thank you, sir.

206. 1:02:47

     I'll be brief. I only have a 35-minute speech.

207. 1:02:49

     Perfect.

208. 1:02:50

     Just kidding. Who is Mason Sells? Mason Scott Sells is our firstborn child, our son, born September 29, 2003, returned to sender September 23, 2024, one week shy of his 21st birthday. Mason was a strong-willed child, teenager, and young adult. His high expectations were not only of others but also of himself, and he was not shy about letting it be known when they were not met. Mason loved life, animals, reptiles, venomous or not, skylines and sunsets.

209. 1:03:22

     We don't know if he loved sunrises or not because as much as he loved sleep, he was never awake for one of those. He loved clothes, shoes, and cars. Mason loved his family, holidays, Thanksgiving was his favorite, his friends, his brothers at ATO, his girlfriend, Laura Grace. Mason enjoyed all sports, baseball, football, basketball, shotgun team, and soccer. Soccer b- being the sport that he played the most and he had a natural talent for. And when he turned 16, he was able to join me on my men's soccer league, and we were able to share a couple of seasons playing on the same pitch, memories I will cherish forever, however long my forever is.

210. 1:03:58

     Mason was honor roll throughout his academic career, landing himself on the president's list while on the accounting track at a challenging university and was employed at a restaurant called The Brick in downtown Macon. Mason is our son, brother to his sister, Abigail, trusted friend, and loyal boyfriend, and now he has to do all those things from the distant shores of heaven. Mason's forever has come. What is an AED? An AED is an automated external defibrillator, an easy-to-use, safe, reliable tool to provide the necessary electrical current needed to restart a stopped heart or a life-threatening irregular heartbeat.

211. 1:04:33

     What happened and what went wrong? On Monday, September twenty-third, twenty twenty-four, Mason joined his teammates at the university's outdoor recreational complex to play in an intramural soccer match. At some point during the match, Mason was struck in the chest by a ball, and the timing of that hit intersected with a certain twenty-millisecond moment of every heartbeat to cause commotio cordis, a concussion of the heart. Mason collapsed on the pitch, striking his forehead on the turf, unable to protect himself during the fall. The Earth stopped, but the clock kept ticking.

212. 1:05:04

     With every passing second, Mason's earthly life slipped away. The Earth stopped, but the clock doesn't. April tenth, twenty twenty-three, seventeen months earlier, at the same university outdoor recreational complex, a scholarship university soccer player, Baba, Baba, uh, uh, collapsed due to a sudden cardiac arrest. After failed attempts at CPR and no AED present were provided, Baba was transported by ambulance to, to Atrium Health Navicent, where he was pronounced dead at seven forty-eight PM.

213. 1:05:36

     Seventeen months later, our Mason laid on the same, same soccer pitch, and even though it appears an AED was purchased at some point, it was located inside a locked office, protecting it from theft instead of protecting the players. No staff member on site having knowledge of or access to it, and after failed attempts at CPR, a long wait, the EMTs arrived to implement the electrical shock needed. A short ride to Atrium Health Navicent. Our boys forever was pronounced. Same field, same school, same sport, same outcome, seventeen months apart.

214. 1:06:07

     Two sides of the same coin. There were three sudden cardiac arrest events occurred the same weekend in Macon, Georgia. You just heard Mason's story and Baba's from seventeen months prior. Two days earlier, Saturday, September twenty-fifth-- twenty-first, a twenty-three-year-old cross-country runner was collapsed during a meet and after a sudden cardiac arrest. She was pronounced dead at ten thirty AM at Atrium Health Navicent in Macon. The opposite side of the same coin, same day, Saturday, September twenty-first, at the home football game against Citadel, a player we were-- a play-- a game that we were actually at with Mason during family weekend, a Citadel player collapsed on the field due to a sudden cardiac arrest.

215. 1:06:47

     After immediate care and use of an AED, Khalil Moody was revived, transported to Atrium Health Navicent, where he made a full recovery. Three events, two different outcomes, one big difference. The presence, accessibility, and use of an AED quickly. What is our goal? Our goal is to help close the gap between AED's presence, accessibility, and use by ensuring that staff members are knowledgeable and nine one one dispatchers are aware of AED locations and accessibility so that fast and effective treatment can be used in addition to CPR to reduce brain damage and deaths from sudden cardiac arrests.

216. 1:07:23

     How does the Mason Sells AED Coordination Act, Senate Bill three ninety-nine, accomplish those goals? AEDs are being installed in more and more places these days, but the common citizen is ignorant to their locations, accessibility, and usage in the event of an emergency. While CPR and AED training is widely available, few answer the call. Nine one one operators having information about the closest AED, its accessibility, and how to coach someone through using it could be the difference between life and death. We know this firsthand, as an AED was within one minute of our son, yet he was not shocked for more than thirteen minutes.

217. 1:07:59

     A shock by one of those... The-- A shock by an AED brought by an EMT instead of the one locked in the field hou-hou-- field house office. That's the impact, but that's just a start. What about the ripple effect? After losing Mason, I had different ideas about hiring engineers to help me build a better, smarter, trackable AED, realizing the university likely locked it away to protect it from theft instead of protecting the student athletes. I thought, "What if all AEDs were trackable with AirTags and GPS functions?" If Senate bill-- If the Senate passes Senate Bill three ninety-nine, I won't need to do that anymore.

218. 1:08:33

     This act will start with nine one one receiving rudimentary maps that they will turn into digital images and file the way for access in the event of an emergency, but it will grow as the ripple catches up to your decision. Nine one one services and AED manufacturers will begin to coordinate as well. Technology will improve soon, and all new AED manufacturers and installed will likely have trackable functions, providing confidence to corporations so they do not lock them away and providing even faster AED access during an emergency. I envision these locations will end up on an app somewhere and be shared in real time to a caller, either by voice or dropping a pin that could work through Google Maps or Waze.

219. 1:09:11

     The technology already exists. The Mason Sells AED Coordination Act, Senate Bill three ninety-nine, will provide the jolt that's needed to change the entire AED industry, making it even better. In closing, I can't save Mason. I can't help him anymore. But I don't want any more Mason stories. I want more Moody stories. I wanna read you something I wrote that highlights our grief and outlines the two-sided coin, and remember the opposite is true for Khalil Moody and his family.

220. 1:09:43

     They're the opposite side of our coin. I wrote this on the one-year anniversary of Mason's homegoing. September twenty-third, twenty twenty-five. Happy heavenly birthday. Is today Mason's birthday? No, it's September twenty-ninth, but I'm trying to figure out how to memorialize September twenty-third. On September twenty-ninth, Mason opened his eyes into this world, and it was his birthday. On September twenty-third, he opened his eyes in heaven. Is that your heavenly birthday, son? The day you were born into heaven? Was our worst day your best?

221. 1:10:14

     I don't know, but that's what I have to believe. The morning of September twenty-third, twenty twenty-four, our daughter Abigail was planning Mason's upcoming birthday post when she walk-- was walking to class, and in her mind, it ca-- the caption read, "Happy heavenly birthday." Less than twelve hours later, Mason stepped into eternity. Should we be saying happily heavenly birthday to you today? After a heartbreaking phone call and an excruciating hour-and-a-half drive and a wait in a small hospital room, the doctor finally came out and asked, "Did Mason have any heart conditions you know of?" Past tense.

222. 1:10:45

     We knew what came next. At that moment, I was told I would never see your face again. I would never hug your body. I would never feel your hair again. I would never hear you laugh again. Never listen to your obnoxious car spit, sputter, and backfire as you engine brake approaching our driveway again. Never attend your college graduation. Never watch you stand anxiously waiting at the end of an aisle. Never hold your babies. I was told our time together one year ago yesterday would have to be our last. I daydreamed the writings the Moody family write.

223. 1:11:18

     A year ago today, our lives were changed forever. You opened your eyes as this, as if for the first time, and you were reborn back into our arms. I can't wait to give you a hug and feel your hair in my hand. Oh, to hear you laugh from the other room. The exciting feeling in my stomach when Life360 pings and says, "Khalil's home." I look forward to watching your graduation, but nothing will bring me more joy than to watch you standing at the end of a aisle, waiting, your future wife. I can't wait to kiss the cheeks of your newborn babies.

224. 1:11:49

     I can't express enough how eternally grateful we are that one year ago yesterday was not our last. One coin, two sides, one major difference, time. Our world stopped, but the clock keeps ticking.

225. 1:12:05

     Scott, thank you for sharing that incredible testimony with us. I'm so sorry for your loss- ... and I truly believe Mason is watching us right now from heaven, and he's proud of you, Dad.

226. 1:12:15

     I appreciate that.

227. 1:12:16

     Hmm. Questions from the committee members? Seeing none, I'll represent, or recognize, uh, Senator Robertson.

228. 1:12:26

     Motion do pass.

229. 1:12:28

     Second.

230. 1:12:29

     I'll second.

231. 1:12:29

     Motion to pass with multiple seconds. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

232. 1:12:34

     Aye.

233. 1:12:34

     All opposed? Passed unanimously. Thank you so much.

234. 1:12:37

     Thank you.

235. 1:12:46

     Senator Cowsert, would you please come down next and present, uh, your bill to us? Uh, we've got, uh, Senate Bill 468.

236. 1:13:00

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's nice to be with y'all today. This bill has a substitute that cleaned up just a couple things, and I'll explain the, the changes. But this is aimed at protecting our children from sexual offenders, sexual predators. We have a pretty detailed, uh, leg- uh, sort of framework for how we deal with these people. Um, and they are required, uh, to report their employment and their residence to the local sheriff after they are released from prison or jail.

237. 1:13:37

     And they are prohibited from being within 1,000 feet of, uh, places where children are frequent, churches, childcare facilities, schools, uh, anywhere else where minors congregate. Uh, where we've found a hole in this that applies to homeless people, because they don't have a residence to report, and they change so rapidly, uh, where they might be staying or sleeping at any given time. Uh, so there's a number, there's over 12,000 people on sexual offenders that are released or under supervision now, and of course a number of those are homeless.

238. 1:14:14

     One of the major problems with the homeless population is a great percentage of them are mentally ill. And when you combine somebody that's mentally ill that has a history of being a sexual offender, uh, they're a danger to our community and our children. So what we're trying to do in this bill is track them more closely, require them to report more frequently where they are residing, uh, so that we can, uh, protect our children from them. And under certain circumstances, can put an ankle monitor on them to monitor their location if they fail to report as required.

239. 1:14:47

     So the bill does just a few little things, uh, to, to effectuate this. It defines a homeless person or homelessness and makes it clear that a sexual offender who is homeless must comply with the geographic restrictions, stay 1,000 feet away, and the, uh, reporting requirements. Uh, and once they either are released from jail or are, are, or change their locations, they must report to the local sheriff within 36 hours their new residence, so to speak, or place that they are sleeping.

240. 1:15:24

     Uh, they've gotta let them know that so that our law enforcement can make sure to protect the children and keep them away from them. Um, they also are required, uh, this, I can tell you the lines, on line 72, 71 through 73, to let any provider of homeless assistance or services know that they're a sexual offender. So if they are asked by homeless shelter, "Are you on the sexual offender registry?" They have to give that information so that we can, uh, make sure that folks keep safe.

241. 1:15:55

     Um, the Sheriff's, um, Association, uh, init-- my initial version allowed a sheriff- Uh, to make this determination to put somebody on, on an ankle monitor if they were failing to notify of their changes in residence in a timely manner. After consulting with legislative council, uh, it became clear that there's been a Georgia Supreme Court case that does not allow you to put ankle monitors on people that are not under supervision, either parole or probation.

242. 1:16:26

     So it's unconstitutional to do that. So we changed and, and allowed a sheriff to notify a probation officer or parole officer of the failure of a homeless person to adequately report their sleeping arrangements or where they were. So then that probation officer can put them on a monitor, uh, if they want to. We particularly were worried about offenses against children. Uh, and there's on page six of the bill, uh, we list a level two risk assessment, and we make it clear if you're the probation officer or parole officer and you're doing a risk as- assessment for a sexual offender, if they're convicted of child molestation, enticing a child for indecent purposes, incest, or sexual exploitation of children, they need to be a level two risk assessment, which makes them harder to be removed from the list and released from these reporting requirements.

243. 1:17:17

     That's a fast view. I know you had a busy schedule, and it's a, it's a precise issue we're addressing, homeless sexual offenders, making certain that they register and we know where they are, and we keep them a thousand feet away from children.

244. 1:17:33

     Thank you, Senator Cowsert, for bringing this forward and your patience, uh, in a busy committee day. Are there questions, uh, from the committee members? I see one from Senator Jackson. Are you number two? All right. Go right ahead.

245. 1:17:44

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, so I think my, my first question is, um, is about the violation of the, the distances. So, um, my, my understanding is currently if someone who is on the registry does not report where they live within the right time, that... And they're on probation, that would already be a violation, and they would therefore be arrested.

246. 1:18:10

     It's up to the probation officer or parole officer. They could file a petition to revoke, uh, if they violate those terms, the residency requirements, or to identify to them where they are. Uh, generally, they have to report once a year to the sheriff where they are. These people change locations so rapidly, um, that this is... It- it's leaving a gap where they're not reporting timely.

247. 1:18:33

     But just a, a further question, right. So, so just practically speaking, um, can you talk me through what this looks like for the person who is homeless, who is a sex offender? Um, tell me, you know, they begin the morning, they sleep under bridge A. Um, over the course of the day, they decide to go sleep under bridge B. With, if this were enacted, they would have to go to the sheriff's office, report that they're moving to B, and then if they decide to move to C or move, removed from B, they would have to go the next day again to report.

248. 1:19:09

     Is that, just, just... Can you talk me through the practicalities of this?

249. 1:19:11

     That's where I want it to be. The original version said within 12 hours of changing your location-

250. 1:19:18

     Mm-hmm

251. 1:19:18

     ... you better go tell that sheriff department. The sheriff's organization pushed back and said, "We're really not manned to do that."

252. 1:19:25

     Right.

253. 1:19:26

     And we may not have people on duty 24/7 to be able to even, to get that report and let the probation officer know, uh, so I changed it to 36 hours where... So with, in your example, within 36 hours of moving where you're sleeping, the homeless person needs to notify the sheriff's department. They may also have requirements to let their probation officer know. The probation officers aren't following these people on a daily basis.

254. 1:19:54

     And then additional follow-up. So are you saying that if a person is homeless, they have to at all times abide by the thousand foot restrictions, or is this only for where they choose to sleep?

255. 1:20:07

     Well, that's what the law prohibits. You can't be employed at a place within 1,000 feet, uh, and it's of a childcare facility, church, school, or area where minors congregate or reside there. And the problem is, where does a homeless person reside? So we have defined it as where they sleep, where they're staying. And they move about. I don't think they do what, what you're saying, where they move three or four times in one day, uh, because I'm not certain that they're sleeping all day long or, or whatever. But they do change from shelter to shelter sometimes, or they'll, you know, because they're mentally ill and off their medications, they may go sleep under a bridge or a camp or encampment somewhere.

256. 1:20:46

     They just need to let the sheriff's department know where they are, and then they can determine whether that's within 1,000 feet and say, "No, no, you can't stay there. This is not safe for our children."

257. 1:20:56

     One, one follow-up, if you will, Mr. Chairman. I'm, I'm gravely concerned about this 1,000 feet. Um, just I happen to work with people who are experiencing homelessness in downtown Atlanta, and, um, Senator Cowsert, I don't know where a person who's experiencing homelessness can sleep in downtown Atlanta and not be within 1,000 feet of one of these locations. So I believe that if they were to follow the letter of your law, what you're doing is you're forcing them out into the suburbs to come out into our neighborhoods, um, where we don't have services. Because if you do the thousand feet from property line to property line in Atlanta where services are, there's no for, there's nowhere for them to sleep legally.

258. 1:21:35

     Well, I don't know that there are schools in downtown Atlanta or-

259. 1:21:38

     Churches

260. 1:21:38

     ... or churches where folks are. I mean, this doesn't prevent them from going near them. You just can't, you can't make that your sleeping place where you're residing, so to speak.

261. 1:21:47

     Right. But what you're doing in effect, because there's no place for them to sleep that would fit within the limits that you have, you are basically telling them to get on Marta, go down to South Indian Creek where me and my children live, and to sleep out there so that they could not be in violation. There's just, there's not 1,000 feet Where, or you're gonna put... They're all gonna find the one little 1,000 feet and they're all gonna congregate in that exact same location. So you have a cadre of homeless sex offenders sleeping, you know, 1,001 feet away from the, you know, the school.

262. 1:22:20

     And I, I don't think that's your intention, but I do think that that would be the consequence based on the restrictions that are, are here.

263. 1:22:27

     Right. First of all, I didn't make up the 1,000 feet.

264. 1:22:30

     I, I understand that.

265. 1:22:30

     That's been in code for 20 years.

266. 1:22:32

     Mm-hmm.

267. 1:22:32

     Uh, and that was previous legislatures that made a policy decision. We don't want known sexual offenders that have been convicted now, uh, to be within 1,000 feet of places where minor children are. Your same example would apply... Oh, so what about an apartment in Atlanta? Have we basically said sexual offenders can't live in downtown Atlanta if that apartment was in 1,000 feet?

268. 1:22:55

     That's correct.

269. 1:22:55

     That's what we say. That's, that's... We have determined that as policy. And so why should we let a homeless person circumvent that restriction just because they don't have a permanent location? They're still residing somewhere, so to speak, and that means for those people where they're sleeping, we don't think it's safe. Yes, it's a harsh consequence sometimes, but it's harsh for somebody that's buying a home, renting a home, renting an apartment as well. That's part of the, the punishment when you're a sexual offender and it's, it's not so much punishment for that person as it's protection for our children, and we think that's more important than their freedom of where they decide to live or where to sleep.

270. 1:23:35

     They need to find a place to sleep that's not in close proximity to children. They're un- they're, they're dangerous. Uh, and, and, and, and have been determined to be that by a jury. They've been convicted or plead guilty of these significant sexual offenses, uh, that, that are, are harmful towards our children. I'm trying to protect our kids.

271. 1:23:56

     Senator Cowsert, we, we agree in the desire to protect our children. I'm just really clear that you are pushing folks out. I mean, so I can actually tell you where the apartments are where sex offenders live because there are only a few choices that you can actually fit.

272. 1:24:10

     Right.

273. 1:24:10

     And so we have large concentrations of sex offenders living in certain apartment complexes that allow them to have access to resources. If we do this for homeless people, you are sending them out to my neighborhood out in the suburbs so that they can comply every single night, and they do not have any services, so their ability to get out of homelessness will be greatly deterred versus be- them being able to be in the city.

274. 1:24:33

     It's no different than what we're doing to people that have a, a apartment or a home. We are prohibiting them from doing the same thing. So maybe we've driven them out into the suburbs as well if they're anywhere within 1,000 feet.

275. 1:24:46

     We've got another question from Senator Robertson.

276. 1:24:48

     Yes. And, and right before my question, I will say we have an enclave, uh, in my jurisdiction to where the homeless people did gather in a particular area, and when the deputies assigned to managing the sex offenders went to go check on them, they would go to that area and they would check on all of them. And so it kinda did concentrate them in a single area, which from a management standpoint was much better. And I do wanna point out that nobody,

277. 1:25:15

     nobody's accidentally labeled a registered sex offender in Georgia. They made a choice to violate a law, and a jury of their peers designated them as guilty, and that's where they fall into that. I do appreciate your legislation, but I have a question. You talked about a Supreme Court decision related to ankle monitors or tracking devices.

278. 1:25:36

     Yeah. Right.

279. 1:25:37

     Okay. Uh, I may have misunderstood you, but, uh, I thought you said that the Supreme Court prohibits or stated that we are prohibited from placing these devices on individuals.

280. 1:25:49

     Beyond the term of their probation or parole.

281. 1:25:52

     Oh, I... Okay, good.

282. 1:25:52

     The case is Park versus State. It was decided in March of 2019.

283. 1:25:55

     Right. And I, I'm, I'm familiar with that case.

284. 1:25:57

     Yeah.

285. 1:25:57

     So good. I, I misunderstood you.

286. 1:25:59

     Yeah.

287. 1:25:59

     Um-

288. 1:26:00

     My original version of the bill applied to people once they were off probation as well.

289. 1:26:04

     Right.

290. 1:26:04

     Uh, because they still have a duty to report where they live after they're off probation. But part of the teeth in this law is it allows us to put these, an ankle monitor on these folks if they have failed to report their, their, um, where they're sleeping.

291. 1:26:19

     And I know in existing legislation, if I'm looking on line 96, it says, "The costs related to the fitting of a location tracking device or any monitoring thereof shall be borne by the sex offender."

292. 1:26:30

     Yeah.

293. 1:26:31

     And then when I, I read over, um, in another area, if I go down to 111, it says, "The cost of such location tracking device shall be paid for by the responsible agency that fitted such device."

294. 1:26:47

     What I learned in my research is there are funds in our budget for indigents. These people are all indigent-

295. 1:26:54

     Right

296. 1:26:54

     ... that are homeless. They can't afford, uh... I mean, they're not employed-

297. 1:26:58

     Right

298. 1:26:58

     ... basically, so they can't do it. So the, the agency that puts the tracking device on them ends up having to apply to the grant funds that we have put in our budget for them to use.

299. 1:27:08

     Right. And so and 99.9% of the time that's gonna be the sheriff's departments that are gonna have to do that, the sheriff's offices are gonna have to do that, right?

300. 1:27:16

     Uh, no, actually it's, it's the-

301. 1:27:17

     You talking about community supervision?

302. 1:27:19

     ... probation. Yeah.

303. 1:27:19

     Community supervision.

304. 1:27:20

     That's, that's, and it's in their budget.

305. 1:27:22

     Yeah, because, um, um... And I guess we, we run into the situation to where we've had to go out into the community and get funding in order to, to do some of this stuff, uh, because of, um, the individuals you were speaking with pri- uh, previously. So I understand that and I do appreciate it, and I think it's good legislation.

306. 1:27:45

     Other questions from the committee members? All right, seeing none, we've got a bunch of people signed up here. I'm gonna ask if you did sign up if you would start congregating back behind the podium. Uh, we're gonna begin with, uh, Heath Taylor with, uh, Cicero.

307. 1:28:03

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon. My name is Heath Taylor, and with me is my colleague Joshua Reynolds, uh, from Cicero Action, to testify in support of Senate Bill 468, which would enable electronic monitoring for unsheltered homeless sex offenders. Several unsheltered homeless sex offenders nationwide report no address to their state registries, leaving law enforcement in the dark and the public at risk. Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee are all fully compliant with the Sex Offender Registry and Notification Act, or SORNA, leaving Georgia behind most of its neighbors under current law.

308. 1:28:44

     Noncompliance with SORNA not only endangers citizens, but also costs the state hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in Byrne JAG grant reductions. These dollars are reallocated to fully compliant states. Sexual violence remains a serious threat to Georgians. Well over 3,000 instances of rape were reported in the state during 2024. That's nearly 10 per day. Senate Bill 468 creates a complimentary conviction-based classification floor that ensures that sex offenders are held to a robust standard.

309. 1:29:17

     This change is necessary to ensure safety and compliance with SORNA. Homeless sex offenders significantly threaten public safety, especially for vulnerable populations such as children and the unsheltered homeless. Homeless youth experience a sexual abuse rate of up to 42%, and that's compared to just 3% for the general youth population. The current lack of accountability for homeless sex offenders who fail to comply with sex offender registry requirements is unsafe and leads to a high risk of recidivism.

310. 1:29:49

     Requiring timely location updates from homeless sex offenders and equipping noncompliant of- offenders with electronic monitoring will protect citizens from sexual violence. One in every 33 unsheltered homeless people in Georgia is on the sex offender registry. Various risk factors associated with homelessness, such as substance abuse, increases the threat posed by an unaccountable sex offender subpopulation. The use of electronic monitoring for sex offenders has been found to reduce arrest rates by nearly half, while also increasing attendance for mandatory therapy.

311. 1:30:27

     Electronic monitoring is a proven method to reduce recidivism without imposing excessive burdens on recipients, serving a positive purpose in promoting public safety and holding all sex offenders to the same accountability standards. Thank you all for your time. I ask that you support Senate Bill 468.

312. 1:30:46

     Thank you, Heath. Joshua, you're gonna give us a few words as well?

313. 1:30:48

     Yes, thank you very much-

314. 1:30:49

     All right

315. 1:30:49

     ... uh, Mr. Chairman. Honorable senators, I'd like to, in response to some of the discussion previously, also note that, uh, there are numerous studies indicating the significant impact of electronic monitoring as a method to reduce recidivism, and the reduction in recidivism ultimately can reduce costs associated with new arrests, associated with the judicial process, and, uh, incarceration periods. Uh, furthermore, um, there's, there's been no, uh, evidence found that there's a significant depressive psychological effect on those receiving monitoring.

316. 1:31:26

     This is not a punitive policy. This is a protective policy. And, uh, lastly, with regards to, uh, how, how sweeping, uh, this is and, and who it affects, more than 99% of Georgia's sex offender population does currently comply with the, the address requirements. This is a very small subset of individuals that is mentioned, uh, by the, the sponsor's testimony are at particularly high risk of, uh, reoffending that we're talking about here. So this is a relatively small number of individuals, but a high level of risk.

317. 1:31:58

     And lastly, uh, Tennessee's Board of Probation and Parole in 2007 did some research into electronic monitoring, and the officers reported that it was, uh, beneficial to them in providing evidence to demonstrate parole violations or conversely to rule out involvement in crimes, uh, and that it allowed o- officers to more effectively follow up on frequently visited locations. If an offender is constantly on the move, it becomes very difficult for them to be properly compliant with, uh, any supervision. And so this is an extremely, uh, valuable piece of legislation to protect Georgia's most vulnerable populations and provide equal accountability for all on the registry.

318. 1:32:37

     Thank you.

319. 1:32:37

     Hang on, you got a quick question from our vice chairman.

320. 1:32:40

     Has any of your research looked into the, the effect geofencing has on the ankle monitors in order to avoid the concerns that Senator Jackson has to ensure that these individuals know they are a thousand, uh, feet beyond the, the violation?

321. 1:32:58

     Uh, Senator, I, I believe, um, what you're describing there would, would be, uh, inclusive or exclusive zoning, which, um, yes, some of the research, the, the California study in 2012 specifically on high-risk sex offenders, uh, strongly recommended the use of inclusive and exclusive zones as an effective tool to, to provide the greatest efficiency in, in law enforcement supervision of the offenders and a strong deterrent effect. So yes, sir.

322. 1:33:23

     Thank you.

323. 1:33:26

     Thank you for your testimony.

324. 1:33:27

     Thank you, Senators.

325. 1:33:29

     And because we're a little out of order, just kind of have everybody come up and introduce themselves so we can check you off the list.

326. 1:33:33

     Okay, good afternoon. My name is Shelley Daniel, and I represent the Georgia Sheriff's Association this afternoon. I'm the director of research and information services, and I'm also responsible for, uh, working with the sheriffs on the sex offender registry and the enforcement of that law. So I'd like to, um, begin by thanking Senator Cowsert for taking some of our, um, considerations on the bill and presenting the substitute, so thank you for that, sir. We do support many of the measures that are spelled out in this legislation. I will start off by mentioning we have about 35,000 registered sex offenders in the State of Georgia that are living here in our state.

327. 1:34:07

     Out of those, 617 are homeless. So out of that, only about half of those are currently on probation or parole supervision. The other half is monitored only by the se- only by the sheriffs. So, um, public perception is that sheriffs know where sex offenders are at all times, and that is actually not the case, as you can see. So we appreciate the efforts for you all to kinda strengthen for homeless sex offenders. I know that's what the majority of this bill kinda details here. Um, I do teach a two-day course to our sheriffs that are responsible for handling the sex offender registry because it is a very convoluted law.

328. 1:34:42

     There are a lot of steps to it. So I know there were some questions that were presented to the author on the proximity restrictions, both in regards to residency and employment restrictions, and I'd like to just kinda clarify on that there that it is actually for the proximity restrictions, it depends on when the person committed their offense. So you... It's not on level or anything like that, so it could be you may have a sexually dangerous predator in your community that has no restrictions at all, and then a level one in your community that has all restrictions because it is all based on when they committed their offense.

329. 1:35:15

     So I know there was some conversation about the proximity restrictions there. So with that, um, I do have with me today, this is Investigator, um, Jeanette Riley. She's with the Butts County Sheriff's Office, and she can answer any, um, further, if y'all have any questions for us regarding the enforcement procedures here. We're happy to answer any of those, and we look forward to working with Senator Cowsert on moving forward as this continues through the process to kinda clarify a few more things.

330. 1:35:37

     I do think you all have a question from Senator Jackson.

331. 1:35:40

     Um, yes. Thank you. I would like to, um, just ask your opinion on this reporting piece in terms of the every 36 hours or the 36 hours. Um, that feels onerous to me, um, in terms of just labor for you all. Um, just wanna know-

332. 1:35:57

     Sure

333. 1:35:57

     ... does, does that work for your department? Does that, does that really work?

334. 1:36:01

     Sure. So the way the current statute reads is for homeless sex offenders, most of their requirements are the same as a regular sex offender. The only thing that is different for them is their reporting requirements. Right now, current statute, it says in there, "Before or after moving sleeping locations, they have to notify the sheriff," so either 72 hours prior to or 72 hours. That's the only place in the statute that the or is in there, so it actually gives them 144 hours currently, and everybody else, it's 72 hours. So the original piece of the bill said 12 hours, and thankfully, he took that into consideration when we said we don't have the manpower for that.

335. 1:36:36

     Plus, for our, um, homeless community, if they are staying in a particular property, the homeowner says, "Nope, you gotta go," them finding something else within 12 hours, and it may be middle of the night, it, it's gonna be difficult for them to do that. So we, we thank him for, for upping that to 36 hours, but-

336. 1:36:51

     Right. I'm asking, is 36 susta- is that, is that enough?

337. 1:36:54

     It's, it's better than 12 hours.

338. 1:36:57

     All right.

339. 1:36:58

     Heard.

340. 1:36:59

     Thank you for your testimony.

341. 1:37:00

     Yes, sir.

342. 1:37:00

     And, uh, we're gonna keep going here. I'm gonna have to cut everybody down to two minutes 'cause a bunch of us have to get to a finance committee, uh, meeting, and, uh, uh, we don't wanna lose a quorum.

343. 1:37:08

     Okay. Yep.

344. 1:37:08

     So if you could, uh, just be brief.

345. 1:37:10

     Okay. Mine'll be real quick. Um, again, she said, I'm Investigator Riley with the Butts County Sheriff's Office. I handle the sex offender registry in our county and also the dom- I handle domestic violence. Did wanna thank the Chairman Obers and, um, Senator Cowsert on this, Cowsert on this. It is a huge challenge for us who's doing this job, who is keeping up with sex offenders. Me alone this morning, um, when I came into work, I mean, came here, I had 74 sex offenders in our small community.

346. 1:37:40

     We had 50t- I have 52 of those who's not even leveled on the risk level. So anytime we can get anything done on the risk level so we can know what we're dealing with, that part does help and assist us greatly. Um, we do wanna thank everyone who's working on anything on this law because I've been doing this eight years, and any changes that this Public Safety Committee can look at to improve the job we can do so we can fully keep this, um, community safe, we would appreciate it. Thank you.

347. 1:38:06

     Thank you, Inspector.

348. 1:38:11

     Uh, Chairman Albers, members of the committee, my name is Brandon Bowman. I represent Restore Georgia. We respectfully oppose SB 468. Georgia already operates a structured risk-based classification system through the Sexual Offender Risk Review Board. The system evaluates individuals using validated assessment tools to determine actual risk to the community. SB 468 places indivi- individualized assessment with automatic des- classification for certain convictions, placing individuals to level two or SDP status solely based on the offense.

349. 1:38:42

     Offense type alone does not determine future risk. Modern risk science evaluates dynamic factors, age, history, treatment participation, behavioral indicators, not just the conviction category. Two individuals convicted of the same offense can pose very different levels of risk. If backlog is a concern, the answer is resources and staffing, not in, not eliminating individualized review. The bill also increases b- reporting burdens on homeless individuals and may discourage stable housing participation, which is one of the strongest predictors of, of reduced recidivism.

350. 1:39:14

     Precision protects communities. Replacing evidence-based assessment with automatic statutory labels weakens the integrity of Georgia's risk system and increases long-term legal and policy risk for the state. We urge this committee to strengthen Georgia's existing evidence-based framework, not replace it. Thank you.

351. 1:39:32

     All right. Come on down.

352. 1:39:36

     Good afternoon. My name's Philip Hinson. I'm the government relations coordinator for the Department of Community Supervision, and I'm joined by Lori Rozier. She's the head of our Sex Offender Administration unit. Uh, we'll be quick, Mr. Chairman. We are neutral. We have a few concerns we want to just quickly address, but I do have some solutions to address our concerns. Um, on section two of the bill, on line 99, after the word offender, we would request that, "While he or she is on probation or parole," be added, and that's just to match with our statutory authority to, to those under supervision.

353. 1:40:13

     On line 105 and 106 ... Sorry, let me sort of zoom in here. Uh, before the word geographic, we would ask that y'all insert the word the applicable, and then replace by code section 42-115 with pursuant to this article. That's just to match with, uh, the fact that proximity restrictions are tied to the crime commit date. 42-115 is the most recent crime commit date, which wouldn't be applicable to all sex offenders under supervision. Uh, then the final amendment would be to strike lines 111 and 112 related to agency pay.

354. 1:40:46

     We do have a process in place to assume the cost for those who are under, uh, supervision who are deemed indigent. Uh, right now we're currently paying for 306 individuals on electronic monitoring, and in January that cost us, I believe, $28,000. So-

355. 1:41:01

     Do you have those amendments, uh, you're proposing written down that we can have a copy of?

356. 1:41:05

     Uh, yes sir. I can write them on a fresh piece of paper for you either.

357. 1:41:07

     All right. I'm gonna ask you when you're done talking to come over here with our esteemed legislative council, uh, so they can write those down, and then we can make sure Senator Cowsert is comfortable with them prior to it coming through the committee.

358. 1:41:17

     I'll consider those friendly amendments.

359. 1:41:19

     All right. Great.

360. 1:41:20

     And, uh, we'll just quickly address a couple things that were stated earlier. Uh, section three of the bill dealing with risk classification, that's handled by SORB, not by DCS. But anyone who's deemed a SDP is placed on electronic monitoring while they are under supervision. Uh, and the part concerning, uh, agency pay, we don't have a dedicated line item from that. We're eating that out of our operational budget.

361. 1:41:39

     Yes, sir.

362. 1:41:39

     So-

363. 1:41:39

     All right. Thank you.

364. 1:41:40

     Just, I think

365. 1:41:41

     Okay. Hang on. You got a question from Senator Bearden?

366. 1:41:45

     Uh, thank you, and thank y'all for everything that you do. If you take out, question about one of your amendments. If you take out lines 11, 111-

367. 1:41:53

     Uh

368. 1:41:53

     ... 111 and 112, excuse me, who's gonna pay for it?

369. 1:41:57

     Well, we still have the process in place for if they're deemed indigent, where we would assume the cost of it. Uh, one of the factors we look at for indigents is, uh, are they homeless? That is something we do consider. But just because someone is homeless doesn't necessarily mean they are indigent. But in all likelihood, we would be paying for most of these people.

370. 1:42:13

     Okay. Thank you so much.

371. 1:42:14

     Thank you, sir.

372. 1:42:14

     He would have paperwork

373. 1:42:15

     Okay. All right. Thank you again. If you could walk over, and we could get those, uh, scribed properly, that would be wonderful. All right. Uh, and last but not least, Jill with GACL.

374. 1:42:27

     Good afternoon, members of the committee. Thank you for hearing me today. I'm here as lawyer of the week for Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. I'm gonna bounce around a little bit. Uh, first agree with the prior witness's testimony on much of what he said, so I appreciate the consideration of the, of Chairman Cowsert, uh, taking that into account. Um, with regard to section three of this bill, a lot of this bill does deal with homelessness, but section three of the bill is an overall overarching change to the law that takes out the understanding that you all have that SORB takes into account people's individual specifics with regard to their background and their specific crime, instead of just saying, "You committed X crime, so therefore you're automatically a level two offender," or partic- or you're a sexually dangerous predator.

375. 1:43:21

     So you're taking out the holistic approach. You're taking about the, the validated system. You're taking out any considerations, and you're just saying X crimes equals this assessment. It almost eliminates the, uh, need for SORB in, in all of those kinds of cases, so I'd ask you to consider that. Um, with respect to homelessness and, um, the 36 hours, uh, I was pleased very much to see that the, that the bill was changed from 12 to 36 hours on line 66.

376. 1:43:55

     I would think that, uh, 48 hours would be more, um, I, I mean, two days to- would be more amenable. Um, I also would point out on line 40 that there's a change, and in the original bill that was filed, it was the, they had, the person had the same reporting requirements, that 72 hours after release from prison that they had to report, but now it's changed to 36 hours. So within being released from prison within 36 hours, when you're trying to sort where you're gonna be, I'd ask that you return that to 72 on line 40.

377. 1:44:29

     Um, with regard to the definition of homelessness, I think that there may, that that, uh, is subject to a vague and broad challenge, and also would note that on lines 27 and 28, those, it's, that's not a definition.

378. 1:44:44

     We have to wrap up.

379. 1:44:45

     So it's, uh, not in that ... I, Mr. Chairman, I'm trying to wrap up. Um,

380. 1:44:52

     the other thing I wanted to point out is while I'm sure that many of you when you're doing international travel know about it more than 21 days in advance, um, people don't always know when they're gonna travel internationally, especially if there's a death in the family. Uh, already when somebody's on probation and they want to travel even out of state, they have to go to their probation officer and get a travel permit. A judge signs an order for that to be allowed. And now, number one, we're taking, they still have to go to the probation officer, but now we're adding another layer on.

381. 1:45:23

     If you look at line 148, we have to provide it to the sheriff. So we have to go to the sheriff with, uh, with all of this information in addition to your probation officer in order to travel. And it seems like if you could at least narrow that down to seven days instead of 21 days, that would be, uh, more acceptable.

382. 1:45:43

     Open for any questions.

383. 1:45:45

     Thank you for your comments as always, Jill. All right, seeing none, thank you.

384. 1:45:51

     Can I ask a question to the author?

385. 1:45:51

     Uh, yes. Uh, no, we're gonna go to the author. You're fine, Jill.

386. 1:45:53

     Yeah.

387. 1:45:53

     Appreciate it.

388. 1:45:54

     The other lawyer.

389. 1:45:55

     All right. Got a question, uh, to the bill's author from Senator Jackson. Go right ahead.

390. 1:46:00

     Thank you. Um, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, so, uh, Senator Cowsert, uh, for the ankle monitoring for people who are experiencing homelessness, um, is your vision that regardless of leveling, regardless of, um, their threat level that all people who are having a hard time meeting this reporting deadline, all of them regardless of leveling would be subject to an ankle monitor?

391. 1:46:21

     If they don't let-

392. 1:46:23

     Right

393. 1:46:23

     ... you know where they are. That- that's why we would need it. If they'll tell you where they're sleeping, then we know where they are and our children are safe. But if they are failing to do that, that's when we allow an ankle monitor so that we can monitor where they are and protect our kids.

394. 1:46:38

     Even if they've been leveled and deemed not, and this is, not to be a, an SDP? Y- this is-

395. 1:46:43

     Yes

396. 1:46:43

     ... across the board for any-

397. 1:46:45

     At, yeah, if, if they're failing to tell where they are.

398. 1:46:50

     Right.

399. 1:46:50

     Then I don't care what level they are, 'cause these are all convicted sex offenders. The levels are just the severity of it. And the level two, a- as we lay out in this bill, are where these sexual offenses are against children, what we're trying to protect.

400. 1:47:05

     So, and one final question. I, I'm curious, um, so I, I've worked with someone who is a registered sex offender. Um, and I think that you believe that checking in with the sheriff is a quick process that's, um, can just happen every 36 hours when a person moves. But are you aware that it can take up to eight hours for someone to check in at Fulton County to let them know where their new place of residence is?

401. 1:47:30

     Oh, that makes me glad we moved it from 12 to 36 though. It's within 36 hours after moving they have to let them know.

402. 1:47:37

     Right. So I j- but I want you just to understand, like, it could take them eight hours to make that check-in due to how Fulton C- County operates. And so i- if they move again, within another 36 hours, they're gonna do that again. That's time, critical time that's being lost where they could be getting resources, where they could be moving out of homelessness. And so I, I just wanna raise that for your awareness, that it's not a just a quick check-in. There's not somebody at a desk that they can just say, "Hey, changing my address." Um, that there are significant wait times and it's, it's very consuming.

403. 1:48:08

     Um, and they also might get caught at dark at night, uh, near a church and wanna fall asleep, which would then be illegal and a problem.

404. 1:48:19

     I think that's probably is still illegal right now. Uh, but I'm gonna get a question from Senator Williams, and then we're going to, uh, be wrapping up here shortly.

405. 1:48:27

     Thank you for bringing this forward. I think my Sheriff, Gary Long, spent a little time, we did.

406. 1:48:33

     Yeah, he sure did.

407. 1:48:34

     Yeah.

408. 1:48:34

     And he was, um, very interested, and he had some additional tightening up he'd like to do to restrict the number of these people that can live in the same type of facility, but just didn't fit this particular code section.

409. 1:48:45

     Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you for doing this.

410. 1:48:48

     Mm-hmm.

411. 1:48:48

     The question I had on these sex offenders to notify the sheriff's office, can they just pick up a phone and call them and report to them, or do they have to go to the sheriff's office in person?

412. 1:49:01

     I, I don't know. We have representatives here from the sheriff's organization, and Mike can answer that better than me. I wouldn't wanna be incorrect.

413. 1:49:09

     Yeah. Uh, but, you know, that just seems like that would maybe solve some of, uh-

414. 1:49:13

     You can

415. 1:49:14

     ... Senator Jackson's issues, uh, you know, if they, uh, called you up and say, "Hey, I'm Russ Goodman. I'm a registered sex offender." "I wanna let you know where I am."

416. 1:49:27

     You coulda chose a lot of examples, Senator. You coulda chose a lot.

417. 1:49:31

     Is, is John Doe not allowed anymore?

418. 1:49:33

     Well, I, I wanna get a quick answer to that question, and then we gotta move on.

419. 1:49:36

     Yeah.

420. 1:49:36

     Okay. And it depends on if that person is on probation or parole. They may wanna speak to that piece of it. If the offender is on probation or parole supervision, it may be different for them. But there are pieces in the statute where it says they have to, uh, report in person.

421. 1:49:50

     Mm-hmm.

422. 1:49:50

     And then there are other things that they can report either by phone or something like that. So part of it is going to be a policy situation depending on the sheriff, and then part of it is depending on what they're reporting. So if it is a change of a sleeping location or if it is, um, that person's been released from prison and they need to report a change of address, in that situation they have to make the report every year, their annual-

423. 1:50:11

     Mm-hmm

424. 1:50:11

     ... uh, revisit.

425. 1:50:12

     Right.

426. 1:50:12

     Or if they're a sexually dangerous predator, every six months they have to do those reports in person.

427. 1:50:16

     Okay. All right. Great. Thank you.

428. 1:50:18

     All right.

429. 1:50:19

     The motion do pass.

430. 1:50:20

     Uh, all right. Uh, Senator Cowsert, any final words before we, uh, get to the next part?

431. 1:50:26

     Uh, no final words other than thanks for your time, and that, uh, the sort of almost scrivener's error type changes that were suggested by Mr. Henson, I agree to those, uh, and therefore-

432. 1:50:35

     All right. I think we're gonna get to that in a moment.

433. 1:50:37

     Yeah.

434. 1:50:38

     All right. So I do have a motion do pass from, uh, Senator Williams. Do I have a second? I got a second from Senator Payne. I'll, uh, ask for an amendment. I'm gonna recognize the vice chairman.

435. 1:50:48

     Yes, Mr. Chairman, directed to you and ledge counsel, I would move that we make the amendments that were offered up by, um, community supervision, uh, to the legislation.

436. 1:50:56

     And could you, uh, bring those to us, please?

437. 1:50:59

     Yeah. Throw my name out there.

438. 1:51:00

     Uh, why don't you come to the microphone if you wouldn't mind? Why don't you go up there to witness number three next to Senator Cowsert for us?

439. 1:51:12

     Okay. Thanks, Russ.

440. 1:51:13

     Motion to

441. 1:51:14

     I should

442. 1:51:18

     have. Okay. So the amendment is, um, on line 99 after the word offender to insert, "while he or she is on probation or parole." On line 105 to insert after the word with, insert the applicable in between with and geographic restrictions.

443. 1:51:46

     Um, starting on line 105, striking by code and then Section 42-115, which continues on to line 106, and replacing that language with, "Pursuant to this article." And then striking lines 111 and 112, which then requires us to, on line 113, renumber that paragraph to paragraph number two.

444. 1:52:14

     Exactly how you wanted it, uh, Senator?

445. 1:52:17

     Yes, ma'am.

446. 1:52:18

     Thank you.

447. 1:52:18

     Yes, sir. To both of you.

448. 1:52:20

     And may, may I ask if I can have permission to make any conforming changes that may be needed to the title after the-

449. 1:52:26

     I think that was the additional part of, uh-

450. 1:52:28

     Okay

451. 1:52:28

     ... Senator Robertson's amendment.

452. 1:52:29

     Yes.

453. 1:52:29

     Okay.

454. 1:52:30

     And everything that, that everything that would encompass those amendments as they were offered up by the-

455. 1:52:33

     Okay

456. 1:52:33

     ... Department of Community Supervision. Thank you.

457. 1:52:36

     Do we have a second to the amendment?

458. 1:52:37

     Second.

459. 1:52:38

     I have a second from Senator Jackson. We're gonna take a vote on the amendment first. All those in favor, please say, "Aye."

460. 1:52:43

     Aye.

461. 1:52:43

     Aye.

462. 1:52:43

     All opposed, please say, "No." The bill is now amended. We're gonna get back to the full bill as it's been amended in the committee. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please raise your hand.

463. 1:52:56

     And all opposed? Okay, one opposed. Thank you, Chairman Cowsert, for the great thorough work on this bill as you always do. Uh, and best of luck in the Rules Committee to you.

464. 1:53:06

     Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, committee.

465. 1:53:08

     And, uh, we are past time unfortunately, so we are going to hear Senate Bill 454 and 473, Monday at 1:00. I apologize for that. Do I have a announcement from, uh, the good Senator Goodman?

466. 1:53:19

     Make a declaration.

467. 1:53:20

     No, I just want to say, uh, Mr. Chairman, I apologize there for a little bit when I, uh, those that have know me, they know me well, especially those that I served with. I had something very similar happen with my son Mason when he was 11 years old. Um, Mason and my son were born six months apart. Um, my son had to be life-flighted. But needless to say, that testimony just hit a little close to home for me today. So I apologize for that, but I just wanted y'all to know that I'm not crazy. There was a reason that it, it, uh, that it, it got me the way it did.

468. 1:53:52

     So anyway.

469. 1:53:53

     I think that to all of us. Thank you.

470. 1:53:53

     And you're not a registered sex offender.

471. 1:53:55

     And I'm not a r-

472. 1:53:57

     On that note, this meeting is hereby adjourned.