# Georgia SB 68: Civil Practice; substantive and comprehensive revision of provisions regarding civil practice, evidentiary matters, damages, and liability in tort actions; provide Georgia SB 68, Civil Practice; substantive and comprehensive revision of provisions regarding civil practice, evidentiary matters, damages, and liability in tort actions; provide, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by John Albers (Republican), Jason Anavitarte (Republican), Lee Anderson (Republican) and 22 others; status signed, last action 2025-04-21 (Senate Date Signed by Governor) (as of 2026-10-12). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB68-2025-2026 - 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 68 - State: Georgia - Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session - Title: Civil Practice; substantive and comprehensive revision of provisions regarding civil practice, evidentiary matters, damages, and liability in tort actions; provide - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2025-01-30 - Last action: 2025-04-21, Senate Date Signed by Governor - Sponsors: John Albers (Republican), Jason Anavitarte (Republican), Lee Anderson (Republican), Brandon Beach (Republican), Matt Brass (Republican), Max Burns (Republican), Bill Cowsert (Republican), Clint Dixon (Republican), Greg Dolezal (Republican), Drew Echols (Republican), Frank Ginn (Republican), Steve Gooch (Republican), Russ Goodman (Republican), Marty Harbin (Republican), Mike Hodges (Republican), John F. Kennedy (Republican), Kay Kirkpatrick (Republican), Chuck Payne (Republican), Randy Robertson (Republican), Ed Setzler (Republican), Shawn Still (Republican), Larry Walker (Republican), Ben Watson (Republican), Sam Watson (Republican), Rick Williams (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Rules, Judiciary, General Bill - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 7 (316 yes, 299 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 8 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - New limits on injury medical awards: cost, medium. In injury and death cases, medical expense awards cover only the reasonable value of medically necessary care. Judges or juries can consider billed charges and amounts needed to settle bills under public or private insurance, including workers’ compensation. This applies even when the injured perso… - Injury lawyers face pain award limits: cost, low. In injury and wrongful-death trials, lawyers cannot suggest dollar amounts for pain, suffering, or other noneconomic losses before evidence closes. They also cannot elicit testimony or references to specific amounts or ranges during the evidence stage. At their first chance to argue damages afterwa… - Seat belts affect awards, not premiums: mixed, medium. In motor vehicle lawsuits, courts can consider an occupant’s failure to wear an available seat belt when deciding fault and damages. This includes whether nonuse contributed to the injury and how fault is shared. Evidence rules still allow courts to exclude this information. Insurers cannot use sea… - Security claims face tighter liability rules: mixed, medium. Security contractors that undertake to protect lawful visitors face the same liability limits as property owners or occupiers. Their liability cannot exceed the owner’s or occupier’s liability. In negligent-security cases, lawyers cannot discuss criminal punishment, anyone’s financial resources, or… - Limits on lawsuit fee awards: mixed, low. Parties cannot recover the same lawyer fees, court costs, or case expenses more than once under statutes authorizing awards. This applies to both compensatory and punitive awards, unless the statutes expressly allow duplicate recovery. Contract rights to recover these costs remain unchanged. A cont… - Plaintiffs face a lawsuit dismissal deadline: mixed, low. Plaintiffs can dismiss a case without a court order through the 60th day after the opposing party serves an answer. They can also dismiss by agreement signed by every party who has appeared. Dismissal usually leaves the claim eligible to be filed again. But a prior state or federal dismissal involv… - Dismissal motions pause lawsuit evidence gathering: mixed, low. A dismissal motion filed before an answer generally pauses discovery—the exchange of case evidence—and extends deadlines by the pause’s length. Courts must decide the motion within 90 days after briefing ends. After that, a party can ask to change or end the pause for good cause. Limited discovery… - Injury cases can separate fault and damages: mixed, low. In injury and wrongful-death cases, any party can demand separate fault and compensatory-damages phases before the pretrial order. The demand must be written, and the same judge and jury hear both phases. On an opposing party’s request, courts can reject separation if the amount at stake is less th… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: John Albers (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Jason Anavitarte (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Lee Anderson (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Brandon Beach (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Matt Brass (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Max Burns (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Bill Cowsert (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Clint Dixon (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Greg Dolezal (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Drew Echols (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Frank Ginn (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Steve Gooch (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Russ Goodman (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Marty Harbin (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Mike Hodges (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: John F. Kennedy (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Kay Kirkpatrick (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Chuck Payne (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Randy Robertson (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Ed Setzler (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Shawn Still (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Larry Walker (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Ben Watson (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Sam Watson (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Rick Williams (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: James Burchett (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-03-21 | Senate | AGREE TO HOUSE SUBSTITUTE AS AMENDED | fail | 22 | 32 | 1 | | 2025-03-21 | Senate | AGREE TO HOUSE SUBSTITUTE | pass | 34 | 21 | | | 2025-03-20 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 91 | 82 | 1 | | 2025-03-20 | House | Immediately Transmit | pass | 94 | 77 | 3 | | 2025-02-21 | Senate | PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE | pass | 33 | 21 | | | 2025-02-21 | Senate | ADOPTION OF AMEND #2A BY SEN FROM THE 7TH TO AMEND #2 BY SEN FROM THE 7TH | fail | 21 | 33 | | | 2025-02-21 | Senate | ADOPTION OF AMENDMENT #2 BY THE SENATOR FROM THE 7TH | fail | 21 | 33 | | ## Actions (17) - 2025-04-21: Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate) - 2025-04-21: Act 9 - 2025-04-21: Effective Date - 2025-04-07: Senate Sent to Governor (Senate) - 2025-03-21: Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate) - 2025-03-20: House Third Readers (House) - 2025-03-20: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House) - 2025-03-20: House Immediately Transmitted to Senate (House) - 2025-03-18: 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) - 2025-02-12: Senate Read Second Time (Senate) - 2025-02-11: Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate) - 2025-02-03: Senate Read and Referred (Senate) - 2025-01-30: Senate Hopper (Senate) ## Bill text - SB 68/AP* (v15): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/236944) ## 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 68/AP* (v15) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/236944) ## 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-SB68-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).