republic-os/legislation/us/states/ga/2025-26/sb-542.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	Sexual Offenses; clergy members to be charged with certain improper sexual contact offenses; permit	A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 6 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to sexual offenses, so as to permit clergy members to be charged with certain improper sexual contact offenses; to provide for definitions; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.	us/states/ga	Georgia General Assembly	2025_26	SB 542	Georgia SB 542 (2025_26)	bill	CRIMES AND OFFENSES (CRIMINAL CODE) MENTAL HEALTH	enacted	Ben Watson Billy Hickman Blake Tillery Bo Hatchett Brian Strickland Carden Summers Chuck Hufstetler Chuck Payne Clint Dixon Drew Echols Jason Anavitarte Jason T. Dickerson John Albers Kay Kirkpatrick Larry Walker, III Lee Anderson Marty Harbin Matt Brass Max Burns Mike Hodges Randy Robertson Russ Goodman Steve Gooch Timothy Bearden	6	16	3	2026-02-20	2026-07-01	openstates	ocd-bill/bf0d5f28-d692-416a-818e-5df7d8b1628f	http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl	13b56ce56412f54dc55187ffe05197f89ac4b577ed858395e7e346f98d2585af	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-ga

Georgia SB 542 (2025_26) — Sexual Offenses; clergy members to be charged with certain improper sexual contact offenses; permit

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 6 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to sexual offenses, so as to permit clergy members to be charged with certain improper sexual contact offenses; 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 Passed Senate (committee substitute) — source
2. As introduced LC 62 0406 (committee substitute) — source
3. Committee Sub LC 49 2755S (committee substitute) — source
4. Floor Amend 1 (committee substitute) — source
5. LC 49 2840S/hss (committee substitute) — source
6. SB 542/AP* (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Senate Vote #644 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — 55–0 (pass) · upper
• House Vote #750 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — 168–0 (pass) · lower
• Senate Vote #842 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — 47–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Ben Watson — primary (person)
• Billy Hickman — primary (person)
• Blake Tillery — primary (person)
• Bo Hatchett — primary (person)
• Brian Strickland — primary (person)
• Carden Summers — primary (person)
• Chuck Hufstetler — primary (person)
• Chuck Payne — primary (person)
• Clint Dixon — primary (person)
• Drew Echols — primary (person)
• Jason Anavitarte — primary (person)
• Jason T. Dickerson — primary (person)
• John Albers — primary (person)
• Kay Kirkpatrick — primary (person)
• Larry Walker, III — primary (person)
• Lee Anderson — primary (person)
• Marty Harbin — primary (person)
• Matt Brass — primary (person)
• Max Burns — primary (person)
• Mike Hodges — primary (person)
• Randy Robertson — primary (person)
• Russ Goodman — primary (person)
• Steve Gooch — primary (person)
• Timothy Bearden — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2026-02-20 Senate Hopper introduction
• 2026-02-24 Senate Read and Referred referral-committee
• 2026-02-26 Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute committee-passage-favorable
• 2026-03-03 Senate Read Second Time reading-2
• 2026-03-06 Senate Third Read reading-3
• 2026-03-06 Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute passage
• 2026-03-09 House First Readers reading-1
• 2026-03-10 House Second Readers reading-2
• 2026-03-20 House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute committee-passage-favorable
• 2026-03-23 House Third Readers reading-3
• 2026-03-23 House Passed/Adopted By Substitute passage
• 2026-03-27 Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub
• 2026-04-10 Senate Sent to Governor executive-receipt
• 2026-05-11 Senate Date Signed by Governor executive-signature
• 2026-05-11 Act 496 executive-signature
• 2026-07-01 Effective Date

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/bf0d5f28-d692-416a-818e-5df7d8b1628f. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).