republic-os/legislation/us/states/ga/2015-16/sb-263.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Law Enforcement Officers; provide governing authority; employs sworn police officers who are P.O.S.T certified; policies; disability in line of duty	A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 1 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding law enforcement officers and agencies, so as to provide that the governing authority of each municipality and county in this state and each board of education which employs sworn police officers who are P.O.S.T. certified may adopt policies under which such sworn officers, upon their retirement or upon leaving such employment as a result of a disability arising in the line of duty, may retain his or her weapon and badge; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.	us/states/ga	Georgia General Assembly	2015_16	SB 263	Georgia SB 263 (2015_16)	bill		enacted	Bill Cowsert Bruce Thompson Burt Jones Butch Miller Charlie Bethel Chuck Hufstetler David Shafer Ed Harbison Elena Parent Emanuel Jones Greg Kirk Harold Jones II Hunter Hill Jack Hill Jeff Mullis Jesse Stone John Albers John Kennedy Judson Hill Marty Harbin Michael 'Doc' Rhett Mike Crane Mike Dugan Rick Jeffares Steve Gooch Tommie Williams Tyler Harper Vincent Fort William Jackson	3	15	1	2016-01-12	2016-07-01	openstates	ocd-bill/d69a3519-2a0d-4fcd-b2ed-d24797618960	http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl	4b33085a7de9c0a80f8530b21d1fcb8e36cd4fc21164424e39c2e150dff1cebd	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-ga

Georgia SB 263 (2015_16) — Law Enforcement Officers; provide governing authority; employs sworn police officers who are P.O.S.T certified; policies; disability in line of duty

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 1 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding law enforcement officers and agencies, so as to provide that the governing authority of each municipality and county in this state and each board of education which employs sworn police officers who are P.O.S.T. certified may adopt policies under which such sworn officers, upon their retirement or upon leaving such employment as a result of a disability arising in the line of duty, may retain his or her weapon and badge; 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. As introduced LC 28 7752 (committee substitute) — source
2. As passed Senate (committee substitute) — source
3. SB 263/AP* (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• PASSAGE — 50–1 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Bill Cowsert — primary (person)
• Bruce Thompson — primary (person)
• Burt Jones — primary (person)
• Butch Miller — primary (person)
• Charlie Bethel — primary (person)
• Chuck Hufstetler — primary (person)
• David Shafer — primary (person)
• Ed Harbison — primary (person)
• Elena Parent — primary (person)
• Emanuel Jones — primary (person)
• Greg Kirk — primary (person)
• Harold Jones II — primary (person)
• Hunter Hill — primary (person)
• Jack Hill — primary (person)
• Jeff Mullis — primary (person)
• Jesse Stone — primary (person)
• John Albers — primary (person)
• John Kennedy — primary (person)
• Judson Hill — primary (person)
• Marty Harbin — primary (person)
• Michael 'Doc' Rhett — primary (person)
• Mike Crane — primary (person)
• Mike Dugan — primary (person)
• Rick Jeffares — primary (person)
• Steve Gooch — primary (person)
• Tommie Williams — primary (person)
• Tyler Harper — primary (person)
• Vincent Fort — primary (person)
• William Jackson — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2016-01-12 Senate Hopper
• 2016-01-13 Senate Read and Referred referral-committee
• 2016-01-26 Senate Committee Favorably Reported committee-passage-favorable
• 2016-01-27 Senate Read Second Time reading-2
• 2016-01-28 Senate Third Read reading-3
• 2016-01-28 Senate Passed/Adopted passage
• 2016-02-01 House First Readers reading-1
• 2016-02-02 House Second Readers reading-2
• 2016-03-10 House Committee Favorably Reported committee-passage-favorable
• 2016-03-15 House Third Readers reading-3
• 2016-03-15 House Passed/Adopted passage
• 2016-03-30 Senate Sent to Governor executive-receipt
• 2016-05-03 Senate Date Signed by Governor executive-signature
• 2016-05-03 Act 609 executive-signature
• 2016-07-01 Effective Date

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/d69a3519-2a0d-4fcd-b2ed-d24797618960. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).