---
type: "Bill"
title: "Professional Counseling; revise the definition"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 43-10A-3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to definitions relative to professional counselors, social workers, and others, so as to revise the definition of \"professional counseling\"; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2015_16"
identifier: "SB 319"
citation: "Georgia SB 319 (2015_16)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Greg Kirk", "Lester Jackson", "Nan Orrock", "Renee Unterman", "Steve Henson"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 17
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2016-02-02"
last_action: "2016-04-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bc498bce-4d1c-4d98-85f7-7752a6e63aa4"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "86c479a556d4320bcb63638fb45a3abd13cd7296ead1546ee09cd908748f152e"
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 319 (2015_16) — Professional Counseling; revise the definition

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 43-10A-3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to definitions relative to professional counselors, social workers, and others, so as to revise the definition of "professional counseling"; 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 33 6304** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/156179.pdf)
2. **As passed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/157671.pdf)
3. **Floor Amendment AM 33 1644** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/161468.pdf)
4. **LC 33 6635ERS/hss** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/160853.pdf)
5. **SB 319/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/162308.pdf)
6. **SB 319/HCSFA** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/161852.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **51–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Greg Kirk — primary (person)
- Lester Jackson — primary (person)
- Nan Orrock — primary (person)
- Renee Unterman — primary (person)
- Steve Henson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2016-02-02** Senate Hopper
- **2016-02-03** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2016-02-11** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2016-02-16** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2016-02-17** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2016-02-17** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2016-02-18** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2016-02-19** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2016-03-16** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2016-03-22** House Postponed
- **2016-03-24** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2016-03-24** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2016-03-24** Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub
- **2016-03-31** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2016-04-26** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2016-04-26** Act 377 `executive-signature`
- **2016-04-26** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/bc498bce-4d1c-4d98-85f7-7752a6e63aa4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).