republic-os/legislation/us/states/ga/2023-24/sb-159.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	Correctional Institutions of States and Counties; wireless communications and stand-alone electronic devices behind guard lines; prohibit	A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 1 of Chapter 5 of Title 42 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding correctional institutions of states and counties, so as to prohibit wireless communications and stand-alone electronic devices behind guard lines; to provide for penalties; to provide for definitions; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.	us/states/ga	Georgia General Assembly	2023_24	SB 159	Georgia SB 159 (2023_24)	bill		enacted	John Albers Kay Kirkpatrick Larry Walker, III Mike Dugan Randy Robertson	7	18	4	2023-02-13	2024-07-01	openstates	ocd-bill/414ef165-fa7e-4916-a052-31b0d8a315aa	http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl	fb9fb2763471478c1d598642cb6f247405b7aa2ff265e098289bec54ca4a0e98	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-ga

Georgia SB 159 (2023_24) — Correctional Institutions of States and Counties; wireless communications and stand-alone electronic devices behind guard lines; prohibit

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 1 of Chapter 5 of Title 42 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding correctional institutions of states and counties, so as to prohibit wireless communications and stand-alone electronic devices behind guard lines; to provide for penalties; 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. As Introduced LC 48 0683 (committee substitute) — source
2. As passsed Senate (committee substitute) — source
3. Committee sub LC 44 2287S (committee substitute) — source
4. Floor amend 1 (committee substitute) — source
5. Floor amend 2 (committee substitute) — source
6. LC 39 3898S/hss (committee substitute) — source
7. SB 159/AP* (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• House Vote #301 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — 103–72 (pass) · lower
• Senate Vote #415 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — 43–7 (pass) · upper
• Senate Vote #88 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — 34–20 (pass) · upper
• Senate Vote #87 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — 22–33 (fail) · upper

Sponsors

• John Albers — primary (person)
• Kay Kirkpatrick — primary (person)
• Larry Walker, III — primary (person)
• Mike Dugan — primary (person)
• Randy Robertson — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2023-02-13 Senate Hopper introduction
• 2023-02-14 Senate Read and Referred referral-committee
• 2023-02-16 Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute committee-passage-favorable
• 2023-02-21 Senate Read Second Time reading-2
• 2023-02-27 Senate Third Read reading-3
• 2023-02-27 Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute passage
• 2023-02-28 House First Readers reading-1
• 2023-03-01 House Second Readers reading-2
• 2023-03-15 House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute committee-passage-favorable
• 2023-03-27 House Third Readers reading-3
• 2023-03-27 House Passed/Adopted By Substitute passage
• 2023-03-27 Senate Disagreed House Amend or Sub
• 2024-01-08 House Insisted
• 2024-01-22 Senate Receded from Amend or Sub
• 2024-04-02 Senate Sent to Governor executive-receipt
• 2024-05-01 Senate Date Signed by Governor executive-signature
• 2024-05-01 Act 508 executive-signature
• 2024-07-01 Effective Date

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/414ef165-fa7e-4916-a052-31b0d8a315aa. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).