---
type: "Bill"
title: "Conduct of Proceedings; reversal on appeal; judge expresses an opinion regarding proof in a criminal case; change provisions"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 3 of Chapter 8 of Title 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to conduct of proceedings, so as to change provisions relating to reversal on appeal when a judge expresses an opinion regarding proof in a criminal case or as to the accused's guilt; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2015_16"
identifier: "SB 99"
citation: "Georgia SB 99 (2015_16)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Burt Jones", "Charlie Bethel", "John Kennedy", "Joshua McKoon", "Judson Hill", "Marty Harbin", "Michael Williams"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 18
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2015-02-10"
last_action: "2015-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9099c13f-051a-4d88-b1d1-7f2328ba3c34"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "617ff147e86c16031ff398ab16a794885c1b74bc5287ed152529d2749ded0487"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ga"]
---

# Georgia SB 99 (2015_16) — Conduct of Proceedings; reversal on appeal; judge expresses an opinion regarding proof in a criminal case; change provisions

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 3 of Chapter 8 of Title 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to conduct of proceedings, so as to change provisions relating to reversal on appeal when a judge expresses an opinion regarding proof in a criminal case or as to the accused's guilt; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **As introduced LC 29 6352** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/147433.pdf)
2. **As passed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/151038.pdf)
3. **Committee sub LC 29 6527S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/150192.pdf)
4. **Floor Amendment - AM 29 2468** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/153693.pdf)
5. **Floor amend 1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/150793.pdf)
6. **LC 29 6638S/hss** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/152531.pdf)
7. **SB 99/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/154004.pdf)
8. **SB 99/HCSFA** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/153697.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE — **39–16** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Burt Jones — primary (person)
- Charlie Bethel — primary (person)
- John Kennedy — primary (person)
- Joshua McKoon — primary (person)
- Judson Hill — primary (person)
- Marty Harbin — primary (person)
- Michael Williams — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2015-02-10** Senate Hopper
- **2015-02-11** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2015-03-05** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2015-03-09** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2015-03-11** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2015-03-11** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2015-03-13** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2015-03-18** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2015-03-24** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2015-03-25** House Withdrawn, Recommitted `referral-committee, withdrawal`
- **2015-03-26** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2015-04-02** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2015-04-02** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2015-04-02** Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub
- **2015-04-09** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2015-05-06** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2015-05-06** Act 174 `executive-signature`
- **2015-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/9099c13f-051a-4d88-b1d1-7f2328ba3c34`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).