# Georgia SB 12: Inspection of Public Records; documents and records in the possession of private persons or entities; revise provisions

Georgia SB 12, Inspection of Public Records; documents and records in the possession of private persons or entities; revise provisions, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by John Albers (Republican), Brandon Beach (Republican), Matt Brass (Republican) and 16 others; status signed, last action 2025-05-14 (Senate Date Signed by Governor) (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB12-2025-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Georgia SB 12
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: Inspection of Public Records; documents and records in the possession of private persons or entities; revise provisions
- Status: signed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2025-01-15
- Last action: 2025-05-14, Senate Date Signed by Governor
- Sponsors: John Albers (Republican), Brandon Beach (Republican), Matt Brass (Republican), Bill Cowsert (Republican), Clint Dixon (Republican), Frank Ginn (Republican), Steve Gooch (Republican), Russ Goodman (Republican), Bo Hatchett (Republican), Emanuel Jones (Democrat), Kay Kirkpatrick (Republican), Chuck Payne (Republican), Randy Robertson (Republican), Shawn Still (Republican), Carden Summers (Republican), Blake Tillery (Republican), Ben Watson (Republican), Sam Watson (Republican), Kenya Wicks (Democrat)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Governmental Affairs, Judiciary, General Bill
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 3 (269 yes, 2 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Better access to privately held public records: benefit, low. In Georgia, public records remain open for inspection and copying unless a law or court order exempts them. Requests must go to the agency responsible for the record or its designated records employee, called the custodian. Custodians must retrieve records that private people or businesses prepared…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: John Albers (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Brandon Beach (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Matt Brass (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Bill Cowsert (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Clint Dixon (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Frank Ginn (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Steve Gooch (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Russ Goodman (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Bo Hatchett (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Emanuel Jones (Democrat), Senate
- Sponsor: Kay Kirkpatrick (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Chuck Payne (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Randy Robertson (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Shawn Still (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Carden Summers (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Blake Tillery (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Ben Watson (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Sam Watson (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Kenya Wicks (Democrat), Senate
- Cosponsor: Victor Anderson (Republican), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-04-04 | Senate | AGREE TO HOUSE SUBSTITUTE | pass | 53 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025-04-04 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 167 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025-02-21 | Senate | PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE | pass | 49 | 0 | 5 |

## Actions (17)

- 2025-05-14: Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
- 2025-05-14: Act 276
- 2025-05-14: Effective Date
- 2025-04-10: Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
- 2025-04-04: House Third Readers (House)
- 2025-04-04: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
- 2025-04-04: Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
- 2025-04-02: House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
- 2025-03-20: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- 2025-02-26: House Second Readers (House)
- 2025-02-24: House First Readers (House)
- 2025-02-21: Senate Third Read (Senate)
- 2025-02-21: Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
- 2025-02-11: Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- 2025-02-10: Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- 2025-01-16: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2025-01-15: Senate Hopper (Senate)

## Bill text

- SB 12/AP* (v11): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/239418)

## 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
- [SB 12/AP* (v11) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/239418)

## 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)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB12-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).