Legislative Watch 2026

In the 2026 Georgia General Assembly session, lawmakers are considering troubling legislative proposals that would curtail open records access, limit free expression, criminalize protest rights and improperly restrict digital access. The Georgia First Amendment Foundation is talking to lawmakers, local elected officials and the media about the potential consequences of these bills, which could vastly reduce Georgians’ right to know about and speak freely about the actions of their government.

Bills now moving through the General Assembly survived Crossover Day on March 6. That means lawmakers passed these bills in their originating chamber — House of Representatives or Senate — and sent them to the other chamber for consideration. Only bills that cross over are still alive in the session. But provisions of “dead bills” may be amended to still-active bills, so no proposed legislation is truly dead until the session ends on April 2.

Below is a list of key legislation on the foundation’s radar.

Senate Bill 482 is a fast-moving bill that would require people seeking law enforcement videos and booking photographs to submit requests for these government records in person. Requestors would be required to fully name a person shown in a police-generated video or to provide the approximate time and date the video was recorded. And requestors would have to ask for each photo or video individually. These new restrictions would make police body-camera and dash-camera videos — even law enforcement-generated videos of traffic — much more difficult, and sometimes impossible, to obtain. Lawmakers are considering exceptions for narrowly defined media organizations and some attorneys. Even with these adjustments, the bill would significantly restrict Georgians’ access to law enforcement video, reducing oversight of police activities, including officer-involved shootings.

Commentary: Georgia taxpayers paid for greater visibility into policing. Now lawmakers want to block their view.

The original intent of SB 482 was to reduce access to booking photos. But once the bill’s language was revised to cover “law enforcement video,” it became a broader and much more worrisome measure that could upend the state’s open records laws. A related measure, House Bill 1223, did not survive Crossover Day.

• Georgia Recorder: Lawmakers may restrict access to police video and mugshots in Georgia
• CBS News: Georgia bill could limit access to police body cam, mugshots as transparency debate grows
• 11Alive News: Georgia bill could restrict access to police bodycam footage
• Capitol Beat: Georgia legislation raises concern about public access to police videos
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia bill would make it harder to obtain police bodycam footage 
• Atlanta News First: Georgia bill targeting ‘mugshot mills’ could restrict access to police video, critics say
• Georgia Recorder: House bill would curb public access to police footage capturing a person’s death

>>> In addition to SB 482, several other bills could erode First Amendment rights — specifically, protest rights. Senate Bill 443, which already passed both chambers and is headed to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk, would make it a “high and aggravated” misdemeanor to obstruct highways and streets. If the governor signs SB 443 into law, expect lawsuits — and for the state to spend taxpayer money to defend against them. House Bill 1076 would make it a felony to obstruct a law enforcement officer with a vehicle, even one that is parked. Senate Bill 116 would require DNA collection from anyone who is charged with a misdemeanor or felony and is subject to detention by federal immigration officials.

These bills carry a chilling effect. Georgians might think twice about exercising their First Amendment rights of free speech and free expression for fear of being arrested on outsized criminal charges. If they become law, Georgians could be charged with crimes for sitting in parked cars or walking on sidewalks, and law enforcement officers could force privacy-violating DNA collections.

>>> Senate Bill 591 would ban certain protests within 500 feet of a religious service. The bill raises significant constitutional questions by pitting First Amendment rights of religious freedom and free speech against each other, giving greater weight to the right to worship.

>>> The Georgia First Amendment Foundation also is monitoring Senate Bill 398, a so-called “virtual peeping bill,” which would make it a felony to use artificial intelligence to generate any image of a minor without consent and a felony to generate an obscene image of a minor, regardless of consent. SB 398 also would make it a misdemeanor or felony, depending on circumstances, to use AI to generate an obscene image of an adult without their consent.

>>> Lawmakers got started on legislation that would protect student journalism to the same degree that other in-school student speech is protected. House Bill 1561 would shield student journalists from censorship or punishment unless their speech significantly disrupts school functions or infringes on the rights of others. The bill did not cross chambers, so its language would have to be added to another bill for the measure to become law this year.

Students said they found the experience of advocating for the HB 1561 a valuable civics lesson. The Georgia First Amendment Foundation, the UGA School of Law’s First Amendment Clinic and the Student Press Law Center supported their efforts. Check out “Protecting Important Stories: Why Georgia Needs to Safeguard Student Press Freedoms” to learn more about the students’ motivation and get links to a webinar and other resources.

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