---
type: "Bill"
title: "Georgia Dangerous Sexual Predator Prevention Act; enact"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 2 of Chapter 6 of Title 5 of the O.C.G.A., relating to appellate practice, so as to revise the name of the Sexual Offender Registration Review Board; to provide for related matters; to provide a short title; to provide for an effective date; to provide for applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2023_24"
identifier: "HB 188"
citation: "Georgia HB 188 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bill Hitchens", "Bill Werkheiser", "James Burchett", "Jesse Petrea", "Mesha Mainor", "Steven Sainz"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 18
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2023-02-01"
last_action: "2023-05-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/298b4fea-d3f5-420e-b6e8-51ff909c0158"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "4b5c6e08bba8f2efc6fbd92b231b393b595b4466939c468cb2263d32e1f5cff3"
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 188 (2023_24) — Georgia Dangerous Sexual Predator Prevention Act; enact

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 2 of Chapter 6 of Title 5 of the O.C.G.A., relating to appellate practice, so as to revise the name of the Sexual Offender Registration Review Board; to provide for related matters; to provide a short title; to provide for an effective date; to provide for 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 188/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/220448.pdf)
2. **LC 48 0724/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/213360.pdf)
3. **LC 48 0889S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/217172.pdf)
4. **LC 48 0889S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/216730.pdf)
5. **SCSFA to HB 188** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/219856.pdf)
6. **Sen ctee sub LC 48 0924S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/217613.pdf)
7. **Sen floor amend 1 AM 39 0355** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/219692.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #351 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **172–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #328 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **52–1** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #189 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **171–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bill Hitchens — primary (person)
- Bill Werkheiser — primary (person)
- James Burchett — primary (person)
- Jesse Petrea — primary (person)
- Mesha Mainor — primary (person)
- Steven Sainz — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-01** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2023-02-02** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2023-02-06** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2023-03-02** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-06** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2023-03-06** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2023-03-07** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-13** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-14** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2023-03-27** Senate Tabled
- **2023-03-27** Senate Taken from Table
- **2023-03-27** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2023-03-27** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2023-03-29** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2023-04-06** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-04** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-04** Act 347 `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-04** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/298b4fea-d3f5-420e-b6e8-51ff909c0158`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).