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Committee advances several bills: police abolition vote change, federal cooperation, and newborn safety devices
Summary
After meeting, the committee advanced multiple bills by voice or amended votes: HB 309 (require public vote to abolish county police departments), HB 315 (restore broader federal-local cooperation — amended), and HB 350 (authorize newborn safety devices); HB 315 was amended to replace the word “personnel” with “officer.”
The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee moved several bills forward in a sequence of brief presentations and votes.
- House Bill 309: The committee approved a bill that would require the same voter approval process to abolish a county police force that is currently required to create one. A sponsor explained the measure applies to county police departments and noted the change aligns creation and abolition procedures. The committee approved the bill by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.
- House Bill 315: Sponsors said the measure provides a statutory basis for federal law enforcement to cooperate with local Georgia law enforcement upon local request — restoring a jurisdictional hook that some other states provide and that federal partners have requested. The committee adopted an amendment substituting the word “officer” for “personnel” on line 16 and then passed the bill as amended. Committee members discussed training equivalencies and definitions for law enforcement and asked sponsors to continue coordination on definitions for peace officers, correctional officers and post-certification procedures.
- House Bill 350: The committee advanced a bill authorizing placement and use of newborn safety devices (sometimes called “safe-haven” boxes) at eligible locations such as ambulance services, hospitals, police stations and fire stations. Testimony included adopters and advocates who described the device’s alarm and chain-of-custody features; witnesses recounted cases in which safe-surrender options saved infants. The committee approved HB 350 by voice vote.
Each of these measures was reported out of committee for the next House step; where applicable, sponsors and witnesses said they would continue working with stakeholders to address drafting and implementation details.
