---
type: "Bill"
title: "Torts; abusive litigation based on alleged website access violations under federal and state law; create a cause of action"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 7 of Title 51 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and abusive litigation, so as to create a cause of action for abusive litigation based on alleged website access violations under federal and state law; to provide factors for evaluating a claim of abusive website access litigation; to provide for a rebuttable presumption when corrective action is taken after receiving notice of an alleged website access violation; to provide for damages; to authorize the Attorney General to intervene and seek certain relief and to make investigative demands for evidence in certain circumstances; to provide for definitions; 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 1470"
citation: "Georgia HB 1470 (2025_26)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CIVIL PRACTICE", "EVIDENCE", "TORTS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bruce Williamson", "Chuck Efstration", "Mary Oliver", "Trey Kelley", "Tyler Paul Smith"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 16
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-02-26"
last_action: "2026-05-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5454f969-babe-4b90-8b0d-b8d2b521f367"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "133014ddd4b4312a39d1f2ced858f4b51e07d20c6878f325d8a40c0dff28acce"
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 1470 (2025_26) — Torts; abusive litigation based on alleged website access violations under federal and state law; create a cause of action

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 7 of Title 51 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and abusive litigation, so as to create a cause of action for abusive litigation based on alleged website access violations under federal and state law; to provide factors for evaluating a claim of abusive website access litigation; to provide for a rebuttable presumption when corrective action is taken after receiving notice of an alleged website access violation; to provide for damages; to authorize the Attorney General to intervene and seek certain relief and to make investigative demands for evidence in certain circumstances; to provide for definitions; 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 1470/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/249040.pdf)
2. **LC 63 0114/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/244362.pdf)
3. **LC 63 0140S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/245505.pdf)
4. **LC 63 0140S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/244980.pdf)

## Votes

- Senate Vote #912 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **39–10** (pass) · upper
- Senate Vote #978 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #681 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **144–22** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bruce Williamson — primary (person)
- Chuck Efstration — primary (person)
- Mary Oliver — primary (person)
- Trey Kelley — primary (person)
- Tyler Paul Smith — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-02-26** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2026-02-26** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2026-03-03** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2026-03-04** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-06** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2026-03-06** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2026-03-09** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-25** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-25** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-31** Senate Tabled
- **2026-04-02** Senate Taken from Table
- **2026-04-02** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2026-04-02** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2026-04-10** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-05-11** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2026-05-11** Act 458 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5454f969-babe-4b90-8b0d-b8d2b521f367`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).