---
type: "Bill"
title: "State Forestry Commission; create a standing timber notification website; require"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 12-6-24 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to notice of timber harvesting operations, so as to require the State Forestry Commission to create a standing timber notification website; to provide for promulgation of rules and regulations; to change surety bond and letter of credit requirements; to provide for claims against bonds; to provide for appeals of such claims; to provide for replacement bonds; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2019_20"
identifier: "HB 897"
citation: "Georgia HB 897 (2019_20)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["James Burchett", "John Corbett", "Jon Burns", "Sam Watson", "Tom McCall", "Trey Rhodes"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 17
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2020-02-05"
last_action: "2020-07-22"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8ea916a2-a825-4533-91c7-b62638010a63"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "5c05f85c78902d52974b431ccb30ea8e51fdb2ec3dc33d812a2cdffb6f305df5"
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 897 (2019_20) — State Forestry Commission; create a standing timber notification website; require

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 12-6-24 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to notice of timber harvesting operations, so as to require the State Forestry Commission to create a standing timber notification website; to provide for promulgation of rules and regulations; to change surety bond and letter of credit requirements; to provide for claims against bonds; to provide for appeals of such claims; to provide for replacement bonds; 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. **HB 897/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/195226.pdf)
2. **LC 44 1388/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/189501.pdf)
3. **Sen ctee sub LC 44 1505S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/193767.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **166–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- James Burchett — primary (person)
- John Corbett — primary (person)
- Jon Burns — primary (person)
- Sam Watson — primary (person)
- Tom McCall — primary (person)
- Trey Rhodes — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-02-05** House Hopper
- **2020-02-18** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2020-02-19** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2020-02-26** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-04** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2020-03-04** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2020-03-05** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2020-06-18** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-06-19** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2020-06-22** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2020-06-22** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2020-06-22** Senate Transmitted House
- **2020-06-25** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2020-06-30** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2020-07-22** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2020-07-22** Act 481 `executive-signature`
- **2020-07-22** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8ea916a2-a825-4533-91c7-b62638010a63`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).