---
type: "Bill"
title: "Ad valorem tax; homestead exemption; clarify definition of disabled veteran"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 48-5-48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the homestead exemption for disabled veterans, so as to clarify the definition of disabled veteran; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2015_16"
identifier: "HB 862"
citation: "Georgia HB 862 (2015_16)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bill Hitchens", "Brett Harrell", "David Knight", "Jay Powell", "Penny Houston"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 19
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2016-01-27"
last_action: "2016-05-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d2f0336e-ccaa-4338-a74b-f415eb7630b8"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "5f2e09c5006a7b1e3486fb8481b30d11bed7d215c26ec3e741fae7540b619758"
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 862 (2015_16) — Ad valorem tax; homestead exemption; clarify definition of disabled veteran

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 48-5-48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the homestead exemption for disabled veterans, so as to clarify the definition of disabled veteran; 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 862/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/162226.pdf)
2. **LC 34 4766/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/155802.pdf)
3. **LC 34 4802S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/159275.pdf)
4. **LC 34 4802S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/156692.pdf)
5. **Sen ctee sub LC 34 4918S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/160755.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **172–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bill Hitchens — primary (person)
- Brett Harrell — primary (person)
- David Knight — primary (person)
- Jay Powell — primary (person)
- Penny Houston — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2016-01-27** House Hopper
- **2016-01-28** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2016-02-01** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2016-02-04** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2016-02-29** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2016-02-29** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2016-03-02** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2016-03-16** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2016-03-16** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2016-03-22** Senate Engrossed `passage`
- **2016-03-22** Senate Tabled
- **2016-03-24** Senate Taken from Table
- **2016-03-24** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2016-03-24** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2016-03-24** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2016-04-01** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2016-05-03** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2016-05-03** Act 595 `executive-signature`
- **2016-05-03** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d2f0336e-ccaa-4338-a74b-f415eb7630b8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).