---
type: "Bill"
title: "Evidence; expert testimony in criminal cases; change rules"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 7 of Title 24 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to opinions and expert testimony, so as to change the rules of evidence regarding expert testimony in criminal cases; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2021_22"
identifier: "HB 478"
citation: "Georgia HB 478 (2021_22)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bonnie Rich", "James Burchett", "Mandi Ballinger", "Micah Gravley", "Mitchell Scoggins", "Scott Holcomb"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-02-16"
last_action: "2022-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f5cd821e-3172-4867-b95c-4a2bf22f5d07"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "f120bd97872bd4c022505f3f5d4c6ec10ca7790e5359f27d39f604b7ec3821ed"
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 478 (2021_22) — Evidence; expert testimony in criminal cases; change rules

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 7 of Title 24 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to opinions and expert testimony, so as to change the rules of evidence regarding expert testimony in criminal cases; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date and applicability; 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 478/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20212022/211157.pdf)
2. **LC 41 2837/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20212022/197764.pdf)
3. **LC 44 1884S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20212022/204945.pdf)
4. **LC 44 1884S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20212022/204217.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **138–25** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bonnie Rich — primary (person)
- James Burchett — primary (person)
- Mandi Ballinger — primary (person)
- Micah Gravley — primary (person)
- Mitchell Scoggins — primary (person)
- Scott Holcomb — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-16** House Hopper
- **2021-02-17** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2021-02-18** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2022-01-27** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-02-02** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2022-02-02** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2022-02-03** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2022-03-25** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-28** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2022-03-30** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2022-03-30** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2022-04-06** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2022-05-02** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2022-05-02** Act 743 `executive-signature`
- **2022-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f5cd821e-3172-4867-b95c-4a2bf22f5d07`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).