---
type: "Bill"
title: "Georgia veterans; allow certain persons to be buried in Georgia veterans cemeteries"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 38 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to Georgia veterans cemeteries, so as to allow certain persons to be buried in Georgia veterans cemeteries; to provide for definitions; to provide for fees; to provide for legislative findings; 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 53"
citation: "Georgia HB 53 (2025_26)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["MILITARY", "EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT", "AND VETERANS AFFAIRS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bethany Ballard", "Brian Prince", "Chas Cannon", "David Clark", "Josh Bonner", "Noelle Kahaian"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 16
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2025-01-14"
last_action: "2025-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e2779cb9-fb0c-4316-91a2-4deadd98f135"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "3634bc0472be5778dc721811bb57f1e40c98f26f8e7c27f54a5d6a0eafa6600b"
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 53 (2025_26) — Georgia veterans; allow certain persons to be buried in Georgia veterans cemeteries

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 38 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to Georgia veterans cemeteries, so as to allow certain persons to be buried in Georgia veterans cemeteries; to provide for definitions; to provide for fees; to provide for legislative findings; 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 53/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/237715.pdf)
2. **LC 46 0970/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/229906.pdf)
3. **Sen Ctee Sub LC 46 1224S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/236563.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #327 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **163–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #279 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **54–0** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #48 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **164–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bethany Ballard — primary (person)
- Brian Prince — primary (person)
- Chas Cannon — primary (person)
- David Clark — primary (person)
- Josh Bonner — primary (person)
- Noelle Kahaian — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-01-14** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2025-01-15** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2025-01-16** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2025-02-12** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-02-20** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2025-02-20** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2025-02-21** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2025-03-20** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-21** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2025-03-25** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2025-03-25** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2025-03-27** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2025-04-07** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-05-13** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-13** Act 179 `executive-signature`
- **2025-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e2779cb9-fb0c-4316-91a2-4deadd98f135`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).