---
type: "Bill"
title: "'Georgia Hemp Farming Act'; hemp products; regulate"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 23 of Title 2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the 'Georgia Hemp Farming Act,' so as to regulate hemp products; to provide for definitions; to prohibit persons from performing certain activities without licenses; to provide for penalties; to revise disqualifications for a hemp grower license; to revise disqualifications for a hemp processor permit; to revise the annual fee for such a permit; to provide for the issuance of retail consumable hemp establishment licenses; to provide for the issuance of wholesale consumable hemp licenses; to provide for the issuance of manufacturer licenses; to provide for the registration of laboratories; 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 494"
citation: "Georgia SB 494 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Freddie Powell Sims", "Kay Kirkpatrick", "Matt Brass", "Randy Robertson", "Russ Goodman", "Sam Watson"]
version_count: 9
action_count: 16
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2024-02-13"
last_action: "2024-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/631b3264-de7c-4ff4-8616-a0e92d573d1f"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "fb75cf540bee6dc602a15f53072d438716b5c14dbf88b96514b1566da9763982"
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 494 (2023_24) — 'Georgia Hemp Farming Act'; hemp products; regulate

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 23 of Title 2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the 'Georgia Hemp Farming Act,' so as to regulate hemp products; to provide for definitions; to prohibit persons from performing certain activities without licenses; to provide for penalties; to revise disqualifications for a hemp grower license; to revise disqualifications for a hemp processor permit; to revise the annual fee for such a permit; to provide for the issuance of retail consumable hemp establishment licenses; to provide for the issuance of wholesale consumable hemp licenses; to provide for the issuance of manufacturer licenses; to provide for the registration of laboratories; 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 55 0217** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/223906.pdf)
2. **As passed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/225782.pdf)
3. **Committee sub LC 44 2765S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/224879.pdf)
4. **Floor amend 1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/225744.pdf)
5. **Floor amend 1 AM 55 0065** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/229491.pdf)
6. **Floor amend 2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/225767.pdf)
7. **LC 55 0279S/hss** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/226662.pdf)
8. **LC 55 0331S/hrcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/229371.pdf)
9. **SB 494/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/229680.pdf)

## Votes

- Senate Vote #900 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **7–47** (fail) · upper
- Senate Vote #901 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **52–1** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #867 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **168–3** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #560 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **43–5** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Freddie Powell Sims — primary (person)
- Kay Kirkpatrick — primary (person)
- Matt Brass — primary (person)
- Randy Robertson — primary (person)
- Russ Goodman — primary (person)
- Sam Watson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-02-13** Senate Hopper `introduction`
- **2024-02-15** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-21** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-02-22** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-27** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2024-02-27** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2024-02-29** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2024-03-04** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2024-03-07** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-28** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2024-03-28** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2024-03-28** Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub
- **2024-04-04** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-30** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-30** Act 498 `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/631b3264-de7c-4ff4-8616-a0e92d573d1f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).