Senate committee advances school-safety bill after hours of debate on juvenile charges and threat reporting

Senators advanced Senate Bill 61 on a 7-2 committee vote Tuesday after more than an hour of testimony and public comment over new criminal definitions, information-sharing rules and annual threat assessments for schools.

The substitute version of the bill, introduced on the Senate floor by Senator Dolesale, would create terroristic acts and terroristic threats aimed at public schools, expand Superior Court jurisdiction for certain aggravated assaults and aggravated batteries involving firearms, and require schools to be notified when a student is on electronic monitoring, intensive supervision or home confinement. It also directs a once‑a‑year site threat assessment — to be coordinated with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA) or an approved vendor — to inform school safety plans.

Supporters, including law‑enforcement officials and some prosecutors, said the changes would give authorities tools to intervene earlier in planning stages and to ensure consistent, annual reviews of school vulnerabilities. Senator…