# Georgia SB 244: Criminal Proceedings; the award of reasonable attorney's fees and costs in a criminal case to the defendant upon such defendant making a successful motion to disqualify the prosecuting attorney for misconduct in connection with the case; provide

Georgia SB 244, Criminal Proceedings; the award of reasonable attorney's fees and costs in a criminal case to the defendant upon such defendant making a successful motion to disqualify the prosecuting attorney for misconduct in connection with the case; provide, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by John Albers (Republican), Lee Anderson (Republican), Brandon Beach (Republican) and 12 others; status signed, last action 2025-07-01 (Effective Date); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB244-2025-2026
- 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 244
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: Criminal Proceedings; the award of reasonable attorney's fees and costs in a criminal case to the defendant upon such defendant making a successful motion to disqualify the prosecuting attorney for misconduct in connection with the case; provide
- Status: signed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2025-02-24
- Last action: 2025-07-01, Effective Date
- Sponsors: John Albers (Republican), Lee Anderson (Republican), Brandon Beach (Republican), Greg Dolezal (Republican), Drew Echols (Republican), Russ Goodman (Republican), Marty Harbin (Republican), Bo Hatchett (Republican), Mike Hodges (Republican), Chuck Payne (Republican), Randy Robertson (Republican), Ed Setzler (Republican), Brian Strickland (Republican), Carden Summers (Republican), Blake Tillery (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Judiciary Non-Civil, Judiciary, General Bill
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 3 (193 yes, 79 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 4

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Compensation recipients get tax and fee protections: benefit, high. Awards under Georgia's wrongful-conviction compensation law are exempt from Georgia state income tax. Attorneys cannot collect fees, costs, or expenses from claimants for seeking relief under this law. That ban includes taking a percentage of the compensation award. Attorneys can collect amounts sp…
- Defendants recover fees after prosecutor misconduct: benefit, medium. Defendants are entitled to all reasonable defense attorney fees and costs when prosecutor misconduct leads to disqualification and later dismissal. This applies to felony and misdemeanor cases dismissed by the court or a later prosecutor. Defendants must request payment within 45 days after the cri…
- Wrongful-conviction claimants lose the claims-board route: cost, medium. Beginning July 1, 2025, Georgia's Claims Advisory Board cannot consider wrongful-conviction and incarceration claims against the state. Compensation also cannot be paid under that state claims process. Claimants must use the new administrative compensation process for state compensation.
- Wrongfully imprisoned people get compensation with limits: mixed, high. Beginning July 1, 2025, Georgia provides a new state compensation process for people wrongfully convicted of a Georgia felony. Claimants must have served some or all of the sentence and prove innocence by showing it is more likely than not. They must prove they committed neither the crime nor a les…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: John Albers (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Lee Anderson (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Brandon Beach (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Greg Dolezal (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Drew Echols (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Russ Goodman (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Marty Harbin (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Bo Hatchett (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Mike Hodges (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Chuck Payne (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Randy Robertson (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Ed Setzler (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Brian Strickland (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Carden Summers (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Blake Tillery (Republican), Senate
- Cosponsor: Charles Martin (Republican), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-04-04 | Senate | AGREE TO HOUSE SUBSTITUTE | pass | 35 | 18 |   |
| 2025-04-02 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 103 | 61 | 2 |
| 2025-03-06 | Senate | PASSAGE AS AMENDED | pass | 55 | 0 |   |

## Actions (18)

- 2025-07-01: Effective Date
- 2025-05-14: Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
- 2025-05-14: Act 361
- 2025-04-10: Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
- 2025-04-04: Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
- 2025-04-02: House Third Readers (House)
- 2025-04-02: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
- 2025-03-28: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- 2025-03-11: House Second Readers (House)
- 2025-03-10: House First Readers (House)
- 2025-03-06: Senate Tabled (Senate)
- 2025-03-06: Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
- 2025-03-06: Senate Third Read (Senate)
- 2025-03-06: Senate Passed/Adopted As Amended (Senate)
- 2025-03-04: Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- 2025-03-03: Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- 2025-02-26: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2025-02-24: Senate Hopper (Senate)

## Bill text

- SB 244/AP* (v9): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/239202)

## 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 244/AP* (v9) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/239202)

## 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-SB244-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).