Crimes and offenses; offense of possession of a controlled substance in the presence of a child; provide
Summary
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 5 of Chapter 5 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to cruelty to children, so as to provide for the offense of possession of a controlled substance in the presence of a child; to provide for definitions; to provide for penalties; to provide for limitations on the merger of other offenses arising from the same conduct; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
Bill status
passed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 12, 2026
Last action Mar 25, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
LC 48 1783S/hs
→
LC 48 1783S/hcs
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill text was reformatted as a committee substitute, removing the Judiciary Committee's introductory language and adjusting the bill's purpose statement to remove a reference to 'endangering a child by possession of drugs' from the summary of changes. This appears to be a procedural revision rather than a substantive policy change.
TECHNICAL
Removed the House Committee on Judiciary's introductory language offering a substitute bill.
Reformatted the bill header to standard committee substitute format with sponsor names.
Adjusted the bill purpose statement by removing the phrase 'to provide for the offense of endangering a child by possession of drugs' from the summary of changes.
Floor votes · House Mar 4, 2026
How they voted
127–8
Passed · 16 other
Total votes 151
Mar 4, 2026
D
Democratic64
65% Yea
R
Republican87
97% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
9
Key actions
3
Committee
3
Mar 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate Committee Favorably Reported
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Committee
Senate Read and Referred
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
House Passed/Adopted By Substitute
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Lower · Passed
House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
lower
Feb 12, 2026
Introduced
House Hopper
lower
5 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Bill Fincher
RRepublican
P
Eddie Lumsden
RRepublican
P
Esther Panitch
DDemocratic
P
Trey Kelley
RRepublican
P
Tyler Smith
RRepublican
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