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Committee adds swatting, terroristic threats and related crimes to GBI administrative-subpoena authority
Summary
House Bill 161’s substitute would allow the GBI, with the attorney general’s concurrence, to issue administrative subpoenas for subscriber records in investigations of swatting, terroristic threats, harassing phone calls and domestic terrorism.
Chairman Crow presented a committee substitute for House Bill 161 (LC 560311S) to expand the circumstances in which the Georgia Bureau of Investigation may obtain subscriber information from telecommunications providers by administrative subpoena, subject to attorney-general oversight. The bill would add offenses such as swatting, terroristic threats, harassing phone calls and domestic terrorism to the existing list of crimes for which the director of the GBI, with the attorney general's consent, may seek administrative subpoenas for subscriber records.
Sarah Lou, special agent in charge of the GBI's Georgia Cybercrime Center, described operational reasons for the change. She said rapid series of threats and swatting calls can generate multiple simultaneous incidents and that "venue is very difficult to determine," making administrative subpoenas necessary to obtain basic subscriber information (name, address, IP address) quickly. "This will help us preserve the well-being of public safety responding to these swatting calls," she said, and noted the subpoenas would not seek full-content search warrants but basic subscriber records.
Committee members and staff clarified discovery obligations. Maisie Lynn, speaking for counsel/Government staff, said the substitute explicitly references Title 17 Chapter 16 discovery statutes so that "issuance of the subpoena... would be provided to the defense in discovery," removing any ambiguity about discoverability.
After the substitute was described and the GBI representative testified in support, the committee voted to pass the substitute and sent the bill to rules.
Why it matters: The change aims to speed investigative responses to cyber-enabled public-safety threats by allowing the GBI to obtain basic subscriber records quickly through an administrative subpoena process, with attorney-general oversight and with explicit discovery disclosure language.
Ending note: Committee leaders said the subpoena authority is matched with discovery disclosure to defense counsel and reiterated attorney-general involvement as an oversight check.
