# Georgia HB 584: Health; reassign licensing and oversight of certain treatments and programs from Departments of Community Health to Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Georgia HB 584, Health; reassign licensing and oversight of certain treatments and programs from Departments of Community Health to Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Katie Dempsey (Republican), John LaHood (Republican), Jesse Petrea (Republican) and 3 others; status signed, last action 2026-01-01 (Effective Date) (as of 2026-10-19). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB584-2025-2026 - As of: 2026-10-19 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Georgia HB 584 - State: Georgia - Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session - Title: Health; reassign licensing and oversight of certain treatments and programs from Departments of Community Health to Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-02-21 - Last action: 2026-01-01, Effective Date - Sponsors: Katie Dempsey (Republican), John LaHood (Republican), Jesse Petrea (Republican), Brian Prince (Democrat), Ron Stephens (Republican), Darlene Taylor (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Public and Community Health, Health and Human Services, General Bill - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 3 (386 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 10 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Caregiver access and elder protections cover homes: benefit, medium. Community living homes licensed under the behavioral health department’s community living program are included in designated essential caregiver rules. Residents of these homes are covered by rules addressing access to a designated caregiver. The law also includes these licensed homes in the facili… - Disability homes need licenses and emergency plans: benefit, medium. The behavioral health department licenses homes serving up to four people with developmental disabilities who need intense residential support. Covered homes receive at least some department-authorized funding, and operators need a license or provisional license that cannot be transferred. The depa… - Prompt abuse reporting for disability home residents: benefit, medium. Community living homes leave the older long-term-care abuse-reporting definition and have a separate reporting framework beginning January 1, 2026. Required reporters with reasonable cause to suspect abuse or exploitation must immediately contact the behavioral health department and law enforcement… - State must assess disability home abuse reports: benefit, medium. The behavioral health department must immediately document whether a community living home abuse or exploitation report requires investigation. Investigations assess the suspected harm, the resident’s condition, and needed services, with an in-person visit where appropriate. The department must eva… - Treatment programs move to behavioral health oversight: benefit, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, Georgia’s behavioral health department takes over licensing from the Department of Community Health. This covers drug treatment and education, narcotic treatment, adult residential mental health programs, and community living homes. Community Health rules in effect Decemb… - Residential mental health programs need licenses: cost, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, adult residential mental health programs must have a valid license or provisional license. Licensed hospitals are exempt unless they run a program separate from the hospital. From July 1, 2022, through December 31, 2025, existing licensed personal care homes had a one-tim… - Treatment operators face fines and license sanctions: cost, low. The behavioral health department can investigate the four covered treatment and residential program types for licensing violations. Grounds include material false statements, blocked access or information, and failure to meet licensing laws, rules, or orders. It can reprimand operators, deny, suspe… - Treatment providers face fees and enforcement costs: cost, low. The behavioral health department must set licensing fees for residential mental health programs, community living homes, drug treatment, and narcotic treatment. Fees cannot exceed its direct and indirect licensing costs, and yearly increases cannot exceed the Consumer Price Index inflation rate. Fe… - Resident privacy protections and agency data access: mixed, medium. The behavioral health department gets authority to collect and use personal information for legally permitted program, oversight, and contractor purposes. Community Health’s listed authority no longer covers the transferred drug-treatment and specified behavioral health programs. Good-faith abuse r… - Emergency safeguards and costs for treatment programs: mixed, low. Community Health’s specified emergency powers no longer cover community living homes or drug treatment and education programs. The behavioral health commissioner can relocate residents facing imminent and substantial danger and place monitors for up to 10 days. Monitor grounds include unlicensed op… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Katie Dempsey (Republican), House - Sponsor: John LaHood (Republican), House - Sponsor: Jesse Petrea (Republican), House - Sponsor: Brian Prince (Democrat), House - Sponsor: Ron Stephens (Republican), House - Sponsor: Darlene Taylor (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Bo Hatchett (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-03-28 | House | Agree to Senate Substitute | pass | 163 | 0 | 4 | | 2025-03-20 | Senate | PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE | pass | 52 | 0 | | | 2025-03-04 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 171 | 0 | 3 | ## Actions (16) - 2026-01-01: Effective Date - 2025-05-01: House Date Signed by Governor (House) - 2025-05-01: Act 44 - 2025-04-08: House Sent to Governor (House) - 2025-03-28: House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House) - 2025-03-20: Senate Third Read (Senate) - 2025-03-20: Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate) - 2025-03-18: Senate Read Second Time (Senate) - 2025-03-13: Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate) - 2025-03-06: Senate Read and Referred (Senate) - 2025-03-04: House Third Readers (House) - 2025-03-04: House Passed/Adopted (House) - 2025-02-27: House Committee Favorably Reported (House) - 2025-02-26: House Second Readers (House) - 2025-02-24: House First Readers (House) - 2025-02-21: House Hopper (House) ## Bill text - HB 584/AP* (v5): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238055) ## Related bills - SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckless stunt driving; replace the forfeiture penalty (signed) - SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation for certain motor vehicles; provide (signed) - SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Service Foundation; establish (signed) - SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact (signed) - HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish (signed) - HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact (signed) ## Sources - [HB 584/AP* (v5) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238055) ## Related - [SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckles…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB160-2025-2026) - [SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation f…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB384-2025-2026) - [SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Servic…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB76-2025-2026) - [SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB406-2025-2026) - [HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1391-2025-2026) - [HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1344-2025-2026) - [Georgia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/georgia/bills) - [Georgia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/georgia) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB584-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-19).