For a summary of some of the major provisions of the Illegal Immigration and Reform Enforcement Act of 2011, click here.   

Under current law, it is illegal to remove a gun from certain public safety officers who are acting in the line of duty. HB 123 makes it illegal to remove a stun gun or taser from these public safety officials.

HB 162 clarifies that a person on the sexual offender registry may not take a picture of a minor without the parent's permission.

Current law allows judges to issue a search warrant after conducting a hearing through a video conference. HB 196 requires that a video recording of any oral testimony given in the video conference be maintained. Language clarifies that loss of video recording shall not be a reason for dismissal of charges.

In addition to other issues, HB 200 requires that law enforcement training centers monitored by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and funded by the Georgia Public Safety Training Center are required to include training on methods of identifying, combating and reporting incidents where a person has been trafficked for labor or sexual servitude. Training and materials will also be required to provide proper detention facilities or alternatives to detention facilities for those who have been trafficked for labor or sexual servitude.

HB 238 restructures the statewide public defender system by clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council (GPDSC) and the Director of the Agency. The legislation also reduces the size and responsibilities of the local supervision panels and has the local circuit public defender reporting to the Director of GPDSC. Reconstitutes the Council from a 15 member to a 9 member Council.  The Governor has five appointments, three of which must be county commissioners, the Lt. Governor and Speaker each have two appointments.

This bill provides that cash bonds must be accepted for offenses in violation of commercial vehicle or driver safety; hazardous material transport; motor carrier insurance or registration; or road taxes on motor carriers. It further requires compliance with all federal motor carrier requirements.

This bill creates the 2011 Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform for Georgians to study Georgia's criminal justice and correction system to enhance public safety, reduce victimization, hold offenders more accountable, enhance probation and parole supervision and better manage a growing prison population. The Council would create a report of its findings and recommend legislation no later than January 9, 2012. The Council's recommendations would then be considered by a Special Joint Committee on Georgia Criminal Justice Reform. The joint committee would cause legislation to be introduced incorporating the recommendations without significant changes.

This bill would require everyone arrested for a felony offense submit to a DNA test before being eligible for bail.  The approximate cost to the counties would be $5 per test.

Requires testing of all convicted felons in the custody of the Department of Corrections and the county jails.

This bill defines "family violence order."

This bill shortens the time before an unclaimed cash bail bond is paid into the county general fund from seven years to one year.

This bill changes the procedure when a criminal defendant enters a plea that they are mentally incompetent to stand trial.

 

This bill shifts the cost of medical examinations to collect evidence from a victim of a sexual offense to be paid for from the Georgia Crime Victim's Emergency Fund, rather than county law enforcement.

This bill prohibits cities and counties from regulating the sale of tobacco or tobacco related objects (i.e., papers, wrappers, blunt wraps, pipes, water pipes) to minors. It also preempts counties from regulating the possession of such products by minors.  Please contact Todd Edwards at tedwards@accg.org if you have concerns.  

This bill makes it a crime to threaten or intimidate a public official for actions taken in his or her official capacity.  Violation is a felony and punished by a fine between $5,000 and $20,000 and/or ten years imprisonment.

This bill creates a special crime of assault upon a health care worker while the worker is treating or transporting a person in the line of duty.  It applies to EMTs, paramedics, first responders and ambulance attendants.

This legislation dedicates the fees collected from various court cases both criminal and civil to fund the Georgia Public Defender System. This is the companion bill to HR 977 which provides the constitutional authority to dedicate these fees.

This bill provides that it is a felony to negligently or intentionally not secure a "dangerous dog" or "potentially dangerous dog" who attacks a human causing severe injury or death. The owner of the dog would be punished by one to three years in prison and/or up to $20,000 fine.

This bill would require any applicant for a weapons carry license to complete a firearms safety training. Peace officers, individuals on active duty in the armed forces and weapons training instructors licensed by the Georgia Board of Private Detective and Security Agencies do not need to submit to additional training.  Any one else who applies to get a weapons carry license must show proof that they have completed a four-hour firearms safety training course provided by a peace officer or a weapons training instructor licensed by the Georgia Board of Private Detective and Security Agencies.

HB 871 extends the sunset on additional penalties that go to driver education purposes from June 30, 2013 to June 30, 2018. ACCG supports the concept of fees for services; however, not one cent of the money raised here (about $10 million annually) has gone for drivers' education recent years.  It has instead been redirected, thus becoming a tax, to balance the state's general fund.  HB 811, having passed but which has been watered down by the Senate Rules Committee, seeks to address this redirection practice.