Legislative Watch 2026

In the 2026 Georgia General Assembly session, lawmakers considered legislative proposals that would have curtailed open records access, limited free expression, criminalized protest rights and improperly restricted digital access. The Georgia First Amendment Foundation talked with lawmakers, local elected officials and the media about the potentially harmful consequences of these bills. Fortunately, lawmakers did not pass most of these troubling bills. Those that did make it out of the General Assembly are still on the foundation’s radar. Below is a list of key legislation we monitored.

GOLD DOME RECAP 2026: Join us noon-1 p.m., April 22, to unpack the 2026 Georgia General Assembly session with political journalists and a First Amendment expert. Panelists will decode bills and explain how lawmakers’ actions will affect government transparency, free speech and freedom of the press. Register now for this FREE virtual event: bit.ly/GoldDomeRecap26

Bills before the governor

>>> Senate Bill 443 passed both chambers and now sits on Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk, meaning he still has an opportunity to veto this unconstitutional bill. The sweeping legislation subjects protesters to the same punishments doled out for sexual battery or aggravated stalking. It would make it a “high and aggravated” misdemeanor to obstruct highways and streets — unnecessary overreach because Georgia already has an anti-obstruction law on the books. If SB 443 becomes law, expect lawsuits — and for the state to spend taxpayer money to defend against them.

Commentary: Georgia protesters could face severe penalties under new legislation

>>> Senate Bill 591 also passed both chambers and awaits the governor. If signed into law, this measure would ban certain protests within 500 feet of a religious service. It 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.

Unsuccessful legislation

>>> Senate Bill 482 did not survive the session. It was a fast-moving bill that would have required people seeking law enforcement videos and booking photographs to submit requests for these government records in person. Requestors would have been 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 needed to ask for each photo or video individually. The restrictions would have made police body-camera and dash-camera videos — even law enforcement-generated videos of traffic — much more difficult, and sometimes impossible, to obtain. Lawmakers added exceptions for narrowly defined print and broadcast organizations and some attorneys, but not for online media outlets or citizen journalists. The bill would have significantly restricted Georgians’ access to law enforcement video, reducing oversight of police activities, including officer-involved shootings. 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 make it past Crossover Day.

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

• Capital B: Georgia bill that could have restricted police body cam footage fails
• 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

>>> House Bill 1076 did not survive the session. It aimed to ratchet up punishment of protesters by adding a felony offense to the books: obstruction of a law enforcement officer with a motor vehicle, punishable by up to $100,000 in fines and imprisonment of up to five years. Georgia lawmakers’ outsized reaction to protests in Minnesota spawned this bill — which would not only have been unconstitutional, but unnecessary. State law already makes it illegal to use a vehicle to obstruct law enforcement officers.

>>> Senate Bill 29 did not survive the session. It would have required law enforcement officers in Georgia to collect DNA from anyone charged with certain felonies, even if they’re never convicted. Police would have been able to collect this DNA without a warrant.

>>> Senate Bill 116 did not survive the session. It would have required police, without a warrant, to collect DNA from anyone charged with a misdemeanor or felony and who was subject to detention by federal immigration officials.

Other bills of interest

>>> The Georgia First Amendment Foundation also monitored Senate Bill 398, a so-called “virtual peeping bill,” which would have made 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, which did not survive the session, also would have made 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 have shielded student journalists from censorship or punishment unless their speech significantly disrupts school functions or infringes on the rights of others. The bill was introduced late and did not survive the session.

Students said they found the experience of advocating for 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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