---
type: "Bill"
title: "Domestic relations; name change requested by victim of family violence; provide separate process"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 12 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to change of name, so as to provide for a separate process when a name change is requested by an individual alleging to be the victim of family violence; to provide for definitions; to provide for procedure; to correct a cross-reference; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2017_18"
identifier: "HB 279"
citation: "Georgia HB 279 (2017_18)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Katie Dempsey", "Mandi Ballinger", "Penny Houston", "Richard Smith", "Spencer Frye"]
version_count: 0
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2017-02-07"
last_action: "2017-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4a4fd5dc-3f81-48b4-a74d-cd22538076c3"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "e754ab8a368ec9433379b87d339402ea385a37c89609ae8fe96fa4591440baf2"
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 HB 279 (2017_18) — Domestic relations; name change requested by victim of family violence; provide separate process

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 12 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to change of name, so as to provide for a separate process when a name change is requested by an individual alleging to be the victim of family violence; to provide for definitions; to provide for procedure; to correct a cross-reference; 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.


## Votes

- PASSAGE — **163–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Katie Dempsey — primary (person)
- Mandi Ballinger — primary (person)
- Penny Houston — primary (person)
- Richard Smith — primary (person)
- Spencer Frye — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-02-07** House Hopper
- **2017-02-08** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2017-02-09** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2017-02-22** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-02-27** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2017-02-27** House Passed/Adopted As Amended `passage`
- **2017-02-28** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-20** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-03-20** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2017-03-28** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2017-03-28** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2017-04-05** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-05-08** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2017-05-08** Act 222 `executive-signature`
- **2017-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4a4fd5dc-3f81-48b4-a74d-cd22538076c3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).