---
type: "Bill"
title: "Correctional Institutions of States and Counties; wireless communications and stand-alone electronic devices behind guard lines; prohibit"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 1 of Chapter 5 of Title 42 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding correctional institutions of states and counties, so as to prohibit wireless communications and stand-alone electronic devices behind guard lines; to provide for penalties; to provide for definitions; 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 159"
citation: "Georgia SB 159 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["John Albers", "Kay Kirkpatrick", "Larry Walker, III", "Mike Dugan", "Randy Robertson"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 18
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-02-13"
last_action: "2024-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/414ef165-fa7e-4916-a052-31b0d8a315aa"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "fb9fb2763471478c1d598642cb6f247405b7aa2ff265e098289bec54ca4a0e98"
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 159 (2023_24) — Correctional Institutions of States and Counties; wireless communications and stand-alone electronic devices behind guard lines; prohibit

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 1 of Chapter 5 of Title 42 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding correctional institutions of states and counties, so as to prohibit wireless communications and stand-alone electronic devices behind guard lines; to provide for penalties; to provide for definitions; 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 0683** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/214464.pdf)
2. **As passsed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/216187.pdf)
3. **Committee sub LC 44 2287S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/214940.pdf)
4. **Floor amend 1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/216072.pdf)
5. **Floor amend 2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/216118.pdf)
6. **LC 39 3898S/hss** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/218137.pdf)
7. **SB 159/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/221513.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #301 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **103–72** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #415 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **43–7** (pass) · upper
- Senate Vote #88 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **34–20** (pass) · upper
- Senate Vote #87 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **22–33** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- John Albers — primary (person)
- Kay Kirkpatrick — primary (person)
- Larry Walker, III — primary (person)
- Mike Dugan — primary (person)
- Randy Robertson — 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`
- **2023-02-16** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-21** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-27** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2023-02-27** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2023-02-28** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2023-03-01** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2023-03-15** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-27** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2023-03-27** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2023-03-27** Senate Disagreed House Amend or Sub
- **2024-01-08** House Insisted
- **2024-01-22** Senate Receded from Amend or Sub
- **2024-04-02** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-05-01** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-05-01** Act 508 `executive-signature`
- **2024-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/414ef165-fa7e-4916-a052-31b0d8a315aa`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).