---
type: "Bill"
title: "Penal institutions; pregnant female inmates or a female inmate who is in the immediate postpartum period; provide prohibited practices"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to inmate policies, so as to provide for prohibited practices relating to a pregnant female inmate or a female inmate who is in the immediate postpartum period; to provide for definitions; to prohibit certain actions relating to strip searches, examinations, and labor and delivery; to provide for documentation and annual reporting of certain information; to provide for related matters; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2019_20"
identifier: "HB 345"
citation: "Georgia HB 345 (2019_20)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bonnie Rich", "Brett Harrell", "Deborah Silcox", "Matt Hatchett", "Sharon Cooper", "Teri Anulewicz"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 16
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2019-02-15"
last_action: "2019-10-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/73e00340-5c85-4fc0-8395-191d3e89185b"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "e76781059c774d612be5da86d93b2ef183140abcf0095e11e9e502f650b1977c"
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 345 (2019_20) — Penal institutions; pregnant female inmates or a female inmate who is in the immediate postpartum period; provide prohibited practices

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to inmate policies, so as to provide for prohibited practices relating to a pregnant female inmate or a female inmate who is in the immediate postpartum period; to provide for definitions; to prohibit certain actions relating to strip searches, examinations, and labor and delivery; to provide for documentation and annual reporting of certain information; to provide for related matters; to provide an effective date; 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 345/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/187593.pdf)
2. **LC 33 7727/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/181658.pdf)
3. **LC 33 7826S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/183885.pdf)
4. **LC 33 7826S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/182998.pdf)
5. **SCSFA to HB 345** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/186992.pdf)
6. **Sen ctee sub LC 33 8004S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/185966.pdf)
7. **Sen floor amend 1 AM 41 0448** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/186838.pdf)
8. **Sen floor amend 2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/186976.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **162–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bonnie Rich — primary (person)
- Brett Harrell — primary (person)
- Deborah Silcox — primary (person)
- Matt Hatchett — primary (person)
- Sharon Cooper — primary (person)
- Teri Anulewicz — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-15** House Hopper
- **2019-02-19** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2019-02-20** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2019-02-27** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-05** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2019-03-05** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2019-03-07** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-26** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-26** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2019-03-29** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2019-03-29** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2019-04-02** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2019-04-11** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-05-07** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-07** Act 249 `executive-signature`
- **2019-10-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/73e00340-5c85-4fc0-8395-191d3e89185b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).