---
type: "Bill"
title: "Dangerous Instrumentalities and Practices; provisions relating to harming a law enforcement animal; revise"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 1 of Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to dangerous instrumentalities and practices, so as to revise provisions relating to harming a law enforcement animal; to provide for the offenses of interfering with or harming a public safety animal or search and rescue animal; to provide for definitions; to provide for punishment; to provide for applicability; to provide for restitution; 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 155"
citation: "Georgia SB 155 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Brian Strickland", "Chuck Payne", "Harold Jones II", "John Albers", "Kay Kirkpatrick", "Lee Anderson", "Max Burns", "Mike Dugan", "Randy Robertson", "Shawn Still", "Valencia Seay"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 18
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2023-02-13"
last_action: "2023-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/11df3aec-e412-4ea2-aa36-02ec03fb4f7a"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "10512d32795bc54935b6f1408520c9f26b26d1087c4619d4570cd037680efcf7"
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 155 (2023_24) — Dangerous Instrumentalities and Practices; provisions relating to harming a law enforcement animal; revise

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 1 of Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to dangerous instrumentalities and practices, so as to revise provisions relating to harming a law enforcement animal; to provide for the offenses of interfering with or harming a public safety animal or search and rescue animal; to provide for definitions; to provide for punishment; to provide for applicability; to provide for restitution; 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 39 3743** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/214453.pdf)
2. **As passed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/216994.pdf)
3. **Committee sub LC 39 3805S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/215743.pdf)
4. **Floor amend 1 AM 39 0342** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/216981.pdf)
5. **LC 39 3891S/hss** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/218136.pdf)
6. **SB 155/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/220195.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #324 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **168–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #136 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **41–14** (pass) · upper
- Senate Vote #345 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **43–12** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Brian Strickland — primary (person)
- Chuck Payne — primary (person)
- Harold Jones II — primary (person)
- John Albers — primary (person)
- Kay Kirkpatrick — primary (person)
- Lee Anderson — primary (person)
- Max Burns — primary (person)
- Mike Dugan — primary (person)
- Randy Robertson — primary (person)
- Shawn Still — primary (person)
- Valencia Seay — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-13** Senate Hopper `introduction`
- **2023-02-14** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-23** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-27** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2023-03-06** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2023-03-06** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2023-03-07** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2023-03-08** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2023-03-15** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-21** House Postponed
- **2023-03-23** House Postponed
- **2023-03-27** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2023-03-27** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2023-03-29** Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub
- **2023-04-05** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-26** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-26** Act 35 `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/11df3aec-e412-4ea2-aa36-02ec03fb4f7a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).