---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relative Search by DFCS; foster placement for a child adjudicated as a dependent; determine such child's permanency plan; provide"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 15-11-211 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to relative search by DFCS, so as to provide that a foster placement for a child adjudicated as a dependent child may be deemed as the child's fictive kin in determining such child's permanency plan; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2019_20"
identifier: "SB 167"
citation: "Georgia SB 167 (2019_20)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ben Watson", "Bruce Thompson", "Greg Kirk", "Matt Brass", "Renee Unterman"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 16
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2019-02-22"
last_action: "2019-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/07233add-2a36-4c0e-8416-a47ed1255e1c"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "7778d0978c68f48ec323cf5b3717a9bb4d9734377b93731031b6d415eca50445"
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 167 (2019_20) — Relative Search by DFCS; foster placement for a child adjudicated as a dependent; determine such child's permanency plan; provide

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 15-11-211 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to relative search by DFCS, so as to provide that a foster placement for a child adjudicated as a dependent child may be deemed as the child's fictive kin in determining such child's permanency plan; 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 48 0061** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/182494.pdf)
2. **As passed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/184192.pdf)
3. **LC 48 0098S/hss** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/185041.pdf)
4. **SB 167/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/186765.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **55–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Ben Watson — primary (person)
- Bruce Thompson — primary (person)
- Greg Kirk — primary (person)
- Matt Brass — primary (person)
- Renee Unterman — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-22** Senate Hopper
- **2019-02-25** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-04** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-05** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2019-03-07** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2019-03-07** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2019-03-08** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2019-03-11** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2019-03-21** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-21** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2019-03-21** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2019-03-28** Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub
- **2019-04-05** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-05-02** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-02** Act 143 `executive-signature`
- **2019-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/07233add-2a36-4c0e-8416-a47ed1255e1c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).