Committee advances bill to set fixed compensation for wrongfully convicted and move decisions to administrative hearings

Representative James Houghton, presenting House Bill 533, told the House Judiciary Committee the measure would change how the General Assembly compensates people who were wrongfully convicted. "Instead of a commission, this proposal would move the decision to our Office of State Administrative Hearings," Houghton said, and added the bill imposes time frames for handling claims.

The bill also replaces the prior variable compensation scheme with a fixed rate. Under the draft the committee considered, a claimant who obtains a judicial finding of innocence would receive $75,000 for each year of wrongful incarceration. "That number would put us kind of in the middle," Houghton said, describing it as based on a national survey of existing state formulas.

Representative Cindy Dempsey, listed as a sponsor, told the committee the goal is to "take this out of the hands of legislators and put it into a good process." Committee discussion clarified that the administrative law judge would make a finding of entitlement but any appropriation to pay awards would remain subject to the General Assembly's appropriations process.

Representative Halcomb offered, and the committee accepted, an amendment requested by the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. The Gallant Amendment inserts the phrase "because of a finding of innocence" after the word "release" in the bill language. After debate and amendment, the committee voted in favor of the bill as amended.

Action & next steps: The committee voted to pass the bill with the Gallant Amendment and sent it to rules. The transcript records the committee voice vote but does not record individual yea/nay tallies.

Why it matters: The bill centralizes factual hearings on wrongful conviction compensation with administrative law judges and sets a fixed per-year compensation amount tied to a formal finding of innocence — a procedural and substantive change to how Georgia would handle compensation claims for exonerees.

Ending note: Committee members asked staff and the bill sponsor procedural questions about budget placement and the role of the chief justice in administratively handling awards; committee leaders indicated the appropriation would be handled through the usual budget process.