# Georgia SB 383: Child Abuse; local child fatality review committees; modify the review

Georgia SB 383, Child Abuse; local child fatality review committees; modify the review, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by John Albers (Republican), Timothy Bearden (Republican), Sonya Halpern (Democrat) and 6 others; status signed, last action 2026-07-01 (Effective Date) (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB383-2025-2026
- 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 383
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: Child Abuse; local child fatality review committees; modify the review
- Status: signed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2026-01-12
- Last action: 2026-07-01, Effective Date
- Sponsors: John Albers (Republican), Timothy Bearden (Republican), Sonya Halpern (Democrat), Bo Hatchett (Republican), Kim Jackson (Democrat), Kay Kirkpatrick (Republican), Nan Orrock (Democrat), Elena Parent (Democrat), Randy Robertson (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Judiciary Juvenile, Children and Families, General Bill
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 2 (213 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 6

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Child death reviews focus on prevention: benefit, low. Georgia’s local child death committees focus on finding chances to intervene and prevent similar deaths. Reports must describe events leading to death and recommend steps to protect children at risk. They no longer must state the cause of death or decide whether the death was preventable. Reports s…
- More infant deaths reach prosecutors: benefit, low. Review rules cover children from birth through age 17. They include sudden deaths of apparently healthy infants, including sudden infant death syndrome, sudden unexplained infant death, and sleep-related deaths. Other covered deaths include unexplained deaths, injuries, suspicious deaths, child abu…
- Child review reports get more time: mixed, low. Police, medical staff, and others who know of a child’s death must immediately notify the county coroner or medical examiner. For deaths outside the home county, the death county’s coroner or examiner must notify the home county’s counterpart. Within seven days of receiving notice, the coroner or e…
- Child reviews gain access with limits: mixed, low. Committee chairs must hold review meetings every 30 days, and qualifying deaths must be reviewed or investigated within 30 days of receiving reports. Committees may ask the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for guidance, but they make the final decision about review eligibility. They may obtain medic…
- Counties publish yearly child review reports: mixed, low. Local committees must publish reports covering the prior calendar year by July 1. Publication can be in the county’s official legal newspaper or on a public website. The county or counties served pay publication expenses. Committees must send annual reports to the state panel by July 15. They no lo…
- Schools join required child death reviews: mixed, low. Each local child death committee must include a school system representative. A local hospital representative may serve instead of a county mental health representative. Designated agencies must take part and send a representative to annual training. A judge must order an agency to participate when…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: John Albers (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Timothy Bearden (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Sonya Halpern (Democrat), Senate
- Sponsor: Bo Hatchett (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Kim Jackson (Democrat), Senate
- Sponsor: Kay Kirkpatrick (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Nan Orrock (Democrat), Senate
- Sponsor: Elena Parent (Democrat), Senate
- Sponsor: Randy Robertson (Republican), Senate
- Cosponsor: Devan Seabaugh (Republican), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-18 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 165 | 0 | 7 |
| 2026-02-06 | Senate | PASSAGE | pass | 48 | 0 | 3 |

## Actions (15)

- 2026-07-01: Effective Date
- 2026-05-06: Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
- 2026-05-06: Act 421
- 2026-04-10: Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
- 2026-03-18: House Third Readers (House)
- 2026-03-18: House Passed/Adopted (House)
- 2026-02-24: House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- 2026-02-10: House Second Readers (House)
- 2026-02-09: House First Readers (House)
- 2026-02-06: Senate Third Read (Senate)
- 2026-02-06: Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- 2026-01-29: Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- 2026-01-28: Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- 2026-01-13: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2026-01-12: Senate Hopper (Senate)

## Bill text

- SB 383/AP* (v5): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/246540)

## 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 383/AP* (v5) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/246540)

## 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-SB383-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).