---
type: "Bill"
title: "Evidence; that a child witness be deemed competent to testify without taking the oath; provide"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 24 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to evidence, so as to provide that a child witness be deemed competent to testify without taking the oath; to allow the use of narrative form medical reports in dependency and termination matters; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2023_24"
identifier: "SB 134"
citation: "Georgia SB 134 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bill Cowsert", "Bo Hatchett", "Brandon Beach", "Brian Strickland", "Greg Dolezal", "John F. Kennedy", "Kay Kirkpatrick", "Lee Anderson", "Marty Harbin", "Matt Brass", "Mike Dugan", "Rick Williams", "Sam Watson", "Steve Gooch"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-02-09"
last_action: "2023-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1ee02fd5-0ce9-4df9-8742-ad2a48b7b33f"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "a9a1e040907923d6a808687ac1939cd6d28e0f7632151e7899918ece7dc6970d"
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 134 (2023_24) — Evidence; that a child witness be deemed competent to testify without taking the oath; provide

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 24 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to evidence, so as to provide that a child witness be deemed competent to testify without taking the oath; to allow the use of narrative form medical reports in dependency and termination matters; 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. **As introduced LC 48 0793** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/214180.pdf)
2. **As passed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/216562.pdf)
3. **SB 134/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/218191.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #240 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **167–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #107 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **56–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bill Cowsert — primary (person)
- Bo Hatchett — primary (person)
- Brandon Beach — primary (person)
- Brian Strickland — primary (person)
- Greg Dolezal — primary (person)
- John F. Kennedy — primary (person)
- Kay Kirkpatrick — primary (person)
- Lee Anderson — primary (person)
- Marty Harbin — primary (person)
- Matt Brass — primary (person)
- Mike Dugan — primary (person)
- Rick Williams — primary (person)
- Sam Watson — primary (person)
- Steve Gooch — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-09** Senate Hopper `introduction`
- **2023-02-13** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-21** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-22** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2023-03-01** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2023-03-01** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2023-03-02** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2023-03-06** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2023-03-14** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-15** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2023-03-15** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2023-04-05** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-02** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-02** Act 247 `executive-signature`
- **2023-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1ee02fd5-0ce9-4df9-8742-ad2a48b7b33f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).