HB 246 Georgia House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Courts; office of sheriff and training of peace officers; revise qualification requirements

Summary

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 15-16-1 and Chapter 8 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to qualification requirements for sheriff and exemptions and employment and training of peace officers, respectively, so as to require a person qualifying as a candidate for sheriff be a peace officer not under revocation or suspension by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council; to provide for a penalty; to provide for submission of a form completed by the executive director of such council; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 4, 2025 Last action Apr 4, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

LC 39 4539/a → LC 56 0356S/hs · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to create a substitute version that expands eligibility for the sheriff's office to include first responders, former military personnel, and other law enforcement officers who are not yet certified peace officers. It also clarifies the timeline for these new candidates to complete certification requirements and updates the penalty for providing false information during the qualification process.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include specific groups of non-certified individuals (first responders, former military, and other law enforcement) who can now qualify as sheriff candidates, whereas the original bill primarily focused on existing registered or certified peace officers.

ELIGIBILITY

Added eligibility for candidates who are first responders, former military officers, or former/current local, state, or federal law enforcement officers to run for sheriff, even if they are not yet certified peace officers.

REQUIREMENT

Modified the requirement for non-certified candidates to swear an oath that they will complete peace officer certification within six months of taking office, with provisions for extensions due to illness, injury, or military service.

Clarified that the six-month certification deadline applies to all non-certified candidates, including the newly eligible groups, and that the Peace Officer Standards and Training Council must make efforts to provide training space for newly elected sheriffs.

ENFORCEMENT

Updated the penalty section to explicitly state that knowingly providing false information during the affidavit process constitutes the offense of false swearing under Code Section 16-10-71.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 4, 2025

Committee

House Withdrawn, Recommitted

lower

Feb 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute

lower

Feb 27, 2025

Committee

House Withdrawn, Recommitted

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

House Committee Favorably Reported

lower

Feb 4, 2025

Introduced

House Hopper

lower

6 primary · 0 co-sponsors