---
type: "Bill"
title: "Georgia Squatter Reform Act; enact"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 16-7-21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to criminal trespass, so as to include when a person enters a land or premises for purposes of residing on such land or premises; to provide a short title; to provide for a definition; to provide for a violation and penalty; to amend Article 2 of Chapter 11 of Title 44 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to proceedings against intruders, so as to provide for the submission of a property affidavit in magistrate court; to provide that proceedings regarding a writ of possession are not required to be jury trials; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2023_24"
identifier: "HB 1017"
citation: "Georgia HB 1017 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bill Yearta", "Clint Crowe", "Deborah Silcox", "Devan Seabaugh", "James Burchett", "Matt Reeves"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2024-01-24"
last_action: "2024-04-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f90d2a37-fc01-4032-8ff8-174ee841e177"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "7587b7718f38985a5a8206d09b715a858ab2192f1cb4cdfd53ea7a612e592897"
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 1017 (2023_24) — Georgia Squatter Reform Act; enact

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 16-7-21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to criminal trespass, so as to include when a person enters a land or premises for purposes of residing on such land or premises; to provide a short title; to provide for a definition; to provide for a violation and penalty; to amend Article 2 of Chapter 11 of Title 44 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to proceedings against intruders, so as to provide for the submission of a property affidavit in magistrate court; to provide that proceedings regarding a writ of possession are not required to be jury trials; 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 1017/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/228870.pdf)
2. **LC 48 1084/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/221704.pdf)
3. **LC 48 1242S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/226032.pdf)
4. **LC 48 1242S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/225495.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #591 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **167–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #776 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **54–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bill Yearta — primary (person)
- Clint Crowe — primary (person)
- Deborah Silcox — primary (person)
- Devan Seabaugh — primary (person)
- James Burchett — primary (person)
- Matt Reeves — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-24** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2024-01-25** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2024-01-26** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2024-02-26** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-02-29** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2024-02-29** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2024-03-04** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2024-03-13** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-14** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2024-03-26** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2024-03-26** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2024-04-02** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-24** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-24** Act 483 `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-24** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f90d2a37-fc01-4032-8ff8-174ee841e177`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).