---
type: "Bill"
title: "Aviation; prohibit operation of unmanned aircraft systems over a place of incarceration"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 1 of Title 6 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding aviation, so as to prohibit the operation of unmanned aircraft systems over a place of incarceration; to provide for a definition; to provide for exceptions; to require posting of signs warning of such prohibition; to provide for violations and penalties; to declare such systems contraband; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2025_26"
identifier: "HB 1230"
citation: "Georgia HB 1230 (2025_26)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["AVIATION", "PENAL INSTITUTIONS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bill Hitchens", "Brad Thomas", "Clint Crowe", "Eddie Lumsden", "Todd Jones"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 16
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-02-06"
last_action: "2026-05-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/26fcece6-3f73-49bc-a1b9-9ce52bb62d1c"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "b098b444b2079f76ba8c5ea508c9b2b0df38a1087148affdafd5fbe8fd76a643"
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 1230 (2025_26) — Aviation; prohibit operation of unmanned aircraft systems over a place of incarceration

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 1 of Title 6 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding aviation, so as to prohibit the operation of unmanned aircraft systems over a place of incarceration; to provide for a definition; to provide for exceptions; to require posting of signs warning of such prohibition; to provide for violations and penalties; to declare such systems contraband; 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. **HB 1230/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/248116.pdf)
2. **LC 39 4917/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/241852.pdf)
3. **LC 64 0073S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/244938.pdf)
4. **LC 64 0073S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/243661.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #593 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **166–2** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #869 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **45–0** (pass) · upper
- Senate Vote #835 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **26–22** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bill Hitchens — primary (person)
- Brad Thomas — primary (person)
- Clint Crowe — primary (person)
- Eddie Lumsden — primary (person)
- Todd Jones — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-02-06** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2026-02-09** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2026-02-10** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2026-02-24** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-03** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2026-03-03** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2026-03-04** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-19** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-20** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-27** Senate Tabled
- **2026-03-27** Senate Taken from Table
- **2026-03-27** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2026-03-27** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2026-04-10** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-05-05** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2026-05-05** Act 388 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/26fcece6-3f73-49bc-a1b9-9ce52bb62d1c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).