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Found 106 matching documents.
Bill or resolution · Georgia House of Representatives · February 6, 2025 · Passed
Distraction-Free Education Act; enact
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): Georgia House Bill 340 would require public schools to ban student use of personal electronic devices like phones and smartwatches from the first bell to the last bell for kindergarten through eighth grade, starting July 1, 2026.
SECTION 2. Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and secondary education, is amended in Part 15 of Article 6, relating to miscellaneous provisions under the "Quality Basic Education Act," by adding a new Code section to read as follows: "20-2-324.8. (a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) 'Access'...
(c) By January 1, 2026, each local school system and public school shall adopt policies and procedures that, at a minimum: (1) Prohibit bell-to-bell access to personal electronic devices by students in kindergarten through grade eight, subject to exceptions provided for by law; (2) Establish appropriate methods for storing students' personal electronic...
Bill or resolution · Georgia State Senate · January 15, 2025 · Engrossed
"Ricky and Alyssa's Law"; enact
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): Georgia's SB 17, called Ricky and Alyssa's Law, would require every public school to install a mobile panic alert system and provide detailed digital maps of school buildings to first responders by July 1, 2026.
The House Committee on Rules offers the following substitute to SB 17: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 11 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 and Article 10 of Chapter 3 of Title 38 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to public school property and facilities and state-wide first responder building mapping information system, respectively,...
SECTION 1. This Act shall be known and may be cited as "Ricky and Alyssa's Law."
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 18, 2025
Tucker v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Deangelo Tucker's murder conviction for a gang-related shooting, rejecting challenges to the evidence and jury instructions, but sent the case back for correction of a sentencing mix-up.
Tucker said that he only had one cell phone — the LG — at the time and took it with him to the studio. No other evidence was presented as to who, if anyone, was in possession of the LG phone at the time, and Tucker testified that he often let others use his cell phone. The shooting occurred around 6:50 p.m. Cell phone tower information placed Tucker’s LG...
In December 2015, officers pulled over Dontavious Burnham for invalid tags and found a black .45-caliber Hi-Point pistol, with scratched-off serial numbers, in his possession. Burnham testified that he had purchased the handgun from a friend at work. Ballistics testing confirmed that the cartridge casings found at the Lowe crime scene were fired from that...
Bill or resolution · Georgia House of Representatives · March 6, 2025 · Introduced
Education; policies prohibiting bullying and cyberbullying; add and revise definitions
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): House Bill 736 would expand Georgia's school anti-bullying law by broadening the definition of bullying, adding new terms like gender identity and progressive discipline, and requiring schools to track and report bullying incidents.
(2) 'Cyberbullying' means bullying that involves the use of electronic communication, including, but not limited to, communication devices and services, including, but not limited to, cellular telephones, cameras, computers, social media platforms, text messages, chat platforms, and internet sites. (3) 'Electronic communication' means, but is not limited...
(10) 'Sexual orientation' means heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality, whether actual or perceived. (7)(11) 'Transmit' means to send or broadcast an electronic communication. (b) No later than July 1, 2026: (1) Each local board of education shall adopt a policy that prohibits to prevent and prohibit bullying, including, without limitation,...
Bill or resolution · Georgia State Senate · January 13, 2025 · Passed
Senate Rules; adopt
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): Senate Resolution 3 adopts the Georgia Senate's operating rules for the 2025-2026 legislative term, carrying over the prior rules with a set of amendments covering staff office names, interim committees, floor conduct, and lobbyist restrictions.
SECTION 9. Said Rules of the Senate are further amended by revising Rule 9-1.13 as follows: "9-1.13 Smoking, Eating, Use of Cellular Phones Prohibited There shall be no smoking, or eating, use of cellular telephones, or reading of newspapers and other materials not pertinent to legislation in the Senate Chamber while the Senate is in session."
SECTION 10. Said Rules of the Senate are further amended by revising Rule 9-1.14 as follows: "9-1.14 Use of Computers, Cellular Phones, Reading Materials on the Senate Floor A Senator shall use his or her computer and cellular phone in the Senate Chamber only for legislative business, provided that this shall not prohibit the Senator from using the computer...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 16, 2025
Ealey v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Deanthony Ealey's malice murder convictions for the shooting deaths of two people in a Walmart parking lot, rejecting challenges to the evidence, prior-acts testimony, hearsay, and his trial lawyer's performance.
At trial, Detective Clint Patton of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office was qualified as an expert in forensic cell phone analysis, and he testified that he conducted a search of Woods’s cell phone pursuant to a search warrant. Woods’s cell phone records demonstrated that, at around 12:00 p.m. on January 13, Woods’s phone received a phone call lasting “a...
Bill or resolution · Georgia House of Representatives · February 4, 2025 · Passed
Education; safety, health, and well-being of students and school communities; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): House Bill 268 requires Georgia public schools to install panic alert systems and mapping data for first responders, rewrites how student records move between schools and agencies, creates new school violence and suicide prevention programs, and adds new criminal offenses for threats against schools.
House Bill 268 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Persinger of the 119th, Efstration of the 104th, Gaines of the 120th, Burns of the 159th, Erwin of the 32nd, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Chapter 11 of Title 15, Chapter 2 of Title 20, and Chapter 3 of Title 38 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the...
information regarding students with the students' assigned classroom teachers; to provide for such information to remain confidential; to provide for reports of law enforcement official encounters with school age youth; to prohibit policies which deny or effectively prevent parents and legal custodians from reviewing certain education records; to provide...
Bill or resolution · Georgia State Senate · March 31, 2025 · Passed
"Charter Schools Act of 1998"; completion charter schools; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): A Georgia Senate bill would let virtual school students join their local public school's sports and clubs starting in 2027, create a new type of charter school for dropout recovery, and update rules for charter school incentive grants and record-keeping.
(3) The virtual school student abides by the same student code of conduct and disciplinary measures and transportation policies as students enrolled at the resident school who are participating in the same extracurricular or interscholastic activity as the virtual school student; (4) The virtual school student completes the tryout process or the equivalent...
(h) Home study students and virtual school students shall participate in extracurricular or interscholastic activities, as authorized under this Code section, on behalf of such home study student's resident school. (i) The specific assigned program of each home study student enrolled in a qualifying course shall be included for a one-sixth segment of the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 28, 2025
Porter v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Bulloch County man's murder conviction, ruling that his confession to a friend plus phone and location evidence were enough for a jury to convict, and that the judge did not need to give a specific instruction on proving identity.
Cell phone records showed that Porter’s cell phone called 911 at 5:57 a.m. on October 8. That call lasted six seconds and was disconnected before it was connected to a 911 operator. The cell tower used for that call was located near Miles’s house. At trial, Detective Ben Purvis testified about a map created based on records showing which cell phone towers...
Bill or resolution · Georgia House of Representatives · March 25, 2025 · Introduced
Education, Department of; publish guidance relating to best practices for secure browsing and parental controls; require
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): A Georgia House bill would add lessons on harmful online material and age verification to school internet safety programs, require the Department of Education to publish parental control guidance, and require the Attorney General to issue an annual online safety enforcement report.
House Bill 829 By: Representatives Beckles of the 96th, Hugley of the 141st, Frye of the 122nd, Williams of the 168th, Flournoy of the 74th, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and secondary education, so as to require the Department of Education to publish...
SECTION 1. Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and secondary education, is amended by revising Code Section 20-2-149, relating to programs for educating students regarding online internet safety, as follows: "20-2-149. (a)(1) The Department of Education shall develop model programs for educating students...
Bill or resolution · Georgia State Senate · February 24, 2025 · Introduced
Georgia Council on Library Materials Standards; establish and provide
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): A Georgia Senate bill would create a new state council to set standards for school library and instructional materials, restrict sex education before sixth grade, limit discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools, and expand parental notification and consent rights.
(2) Beginning December 1, 2025, and continuing thereafter, no local board of education shall permit restricted material to: (A) Include material that is harmful to minors; (B) Be accessible by or otherwise available or disseminated in any manner to any student in or below grade six; or (C) Be accessible by or otherwise available or disseminated in any...
Such standards shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following provisions: (A) Obscenity in any medium, including physical, electronic, visual, and audible, in public school primary or supplementary instructional materials is not protected under the Georgia Constitution or the First Amendment to the United States Constitution; (B) Each public...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 6, 2025
Arnold v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Rockdale County man's murder conviction, rejecting arguments that the evidence was insufficient, that his fingerprint expert testimony was improperly admitted, and that his trial lawyers were ineffective.
While the evidence in this case was circumstantial, “circumstantial evidence alone can be constitutionally sufficient,” Hooks, 318 Ga. at 852 (2) (a), and the evidence here was sufficient as a matter of constitutional due process to authorize the jury to find Arnold guilty of Goolsby’s murder and the other offenses with which he was charged. See Ridley, 315...
According to Investigator Green, the location information he received and reviewed from Arnold’s cell phone for the period between the afternoon of April 5 and the morning of April 7 demonstrated that Arnold’s cell phone was located at 1415 Lester Road starting at 4:43 p.m. on Friday, April 5. Between 1:06 a.m. and ————————————————————— 18 Investigator...
Bill or resolution · Georgia State Senate · February 6, 2025 · Passed
Compulsory Attendance; provisions of the state's compulsory school attendance laws; update and revise
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): Senate Bill 123 rewrites Georgia's compulsory school attendance law, banning school expulsion for absences alone, creating a formal definition of chronic absenteeism, and requiring local school systems to set up attendance review teams for struggling students.
(4) No student shall be expelled from a public school in this state due solely to such student's absences from school. (c)(d)(1) Any parent, or guardian, or other person residing in this state who has control or charge of a child or children and who violates this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to...
Public schools shall retain signed copies of statements through the end of the school year. (d)(e) Local school superintendents in the case of private schools, the Department of Education in the case of home study programs, and visiting teachers and attendance officers in the case of public schools shall have authority and it shall be their duty to file...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 24, 2025
Wilson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed Andrew Wilson's murder conviction, ruling the trial court should not have let jurors hear about a 2011 armed robbery because it was too generic to prove motive or a common criminal scheme.
In 2012, the lead investigator in Harris’s murder case filed motions seeking court orders requiring AT&T and Metro PCS to disclose Wilson’s phone records, including cell phone location data. The trial court issued the orders under the federal Stored Communications Act (“SCA”). See 18 USC § 2703 (c) (1) (B) & (d).21 21 At the time Wilson’s cell phone records...
relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation. In the case of a State governmental authority, such a court order shall not issue if prohibited by the law of such State. accompanying cell-phone location data. On appeal, Wilson argues that the State’s failure to obtain a search warrant for his phone records and cell-phone location data violated...
Bill or resolution · Georgia House of Representatives · February 24, 2025 · Introduced
Georgia Gun Safe Act of 2025; enact
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): House Bill 601, the Georgia Gun Safe Act of 2025, would rewrite large parts of Georgia's gun laws, adding new bans, storage rules, a firearms registry, waiting periods and license changes affecting gun owners, sellers, minors and peace officers statewide.
SECTION 7. Said article is further amended in said part in Code Section 16-11-127.1, relating to carrying weapons within school safety zones, at school functions, or on a bus or other transportation furnished by a school, by revising subsection (a), by reserving paragraph (6) of subsection (c), and by revising paragraph (20) of subsection (c) as follows:...
(i) Not apply to buildings or property used for athletic sporting events or student housing, including, but not limited to, fraternity and sorority houses; (ii) Not apply to any preschool or childcare space located within such buildings or real property; (iii) Not apply to any room or space being used for classes related to a college and career academy or...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · December 9, 2025
Saunders v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Liberty County man's malice murder conviction, rejecting claims that his trial lawyer was constitutionally deficient and that the trial judge should have granted a new trial based on the weight of the evidence.
Investigators recovered Jones’s cell phone from the driver’s seat of the truck. A subsequent search of that phone established that, between January 26 and 29, 2018, multiple calls were placed from or received by Jones’s cell phone from the same phone number—later identified as Saunders’s cell phone number— including nine calls on January 29. The last phone...
Bill or resolution · Georgia State Senate · January 28, 2025 · Introduced
State Board of Education; establishment of a program and state-wide database relating to threats to safety made on or impacting school campuses; require
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): A Georgia Senate bill would require the State Board of Education to build a statewide alert system and a database tracking people who threaten school safety, covering all public elementary and secondary schools.
Senate Bill 54 By: Senators Jones of the 10th, Jones II of the 22nd, Sims of the 12th, Lucas of the 26th, Orrock of the 36th and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 1 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state board of education, so as to require the establishment of a program and state-wide...
SECTION 1. Article 1 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state board of education, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows: "20-2-20.1. (a) No later than July 1, 2026, the State Board of Education shall establish an emergency alert response system to be provided to public elementary and...
Bill or resolution · Georgia House of Representatives · January 30, 2025 · Introduced
Education; use of school facilities by certain youth groups; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): A House committee substitute would require Georgia school districts that use state funds to let patriotic youth groups, such as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts affiliates, use school facilities, unless a principal explains in writing why access was denied.
The House Committee on Education offers the following substitute to HB 198: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and secondary education, so as to provide for the use of local school system facilities by certain youth groups; to provide for a definition; to provide for...
SECTION 1. Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and secondary education, is amended by revising Code Section 20-2-12, which is reserved, as follows: "20-2-12. (a) As used in this Code section, the term 'patriotic society' means a youth group listed in Title 36 of the United States Code as a patriotic...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 30, 2025
Crawford v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Carl Crawford's murder conviction for shooting his roommate's ex-girlfriend, finding that several disputed pieces of testimony either were properly admitted or did not affect the trial's outcome.
whom she had hair appointments scheduled the next day, and while McFadden was at the apartment, she and Crawford got into a heated argument. On the morning of November 17, McFadden left the apartment, and McFadden’s cell phone records show that, later that evening, several text messages were exchanged between McFadden’s cell phone and Crawford’s cell phone....
Bill or resolution · Georgia House of Representatives · January 30, 2025 · Introduced
Firearms; storage within a motor vehicle or vessel; provide
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): House Bill 207 would require Georgians who are not carrying a firearm on their person to keep it locked up when it's in a car or boat, instead of allowing free storage as current law does, and would apply that same locked-storage rule to the school safety zone exceptions.
SECTION 2. Said part is further amended in Code Section 16-11-127.1, relating to carrying weapons within school safety zones, at school functions, or on a bus or other transportation furnished by a school, by revising paragraphs (7), (8), and (17) of subsection (c) as follows: "(7) A lawful weapons carrier when such person carries or picks up a student...
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