Committee recommends ‘do pass’ for bill adding autism-specific language to Maddie’s Law alerts

A state House committee voted to recommend House Bill 465 for passage after amending language to apply elements of Maddie’s Law to missing persons with autism spectrum disorder, committee members and advocates said. Representative Gilliard, the bill sponsor, described the substitute as clarifying who may initiate alerts and how the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) will participate.

The measure inserts autism-specific language into existing missing-persons alert processes, requiring law enforcement to “verify the criteria” in code section 35-3-176 before activating an alert, Representative Gilliard said. He told the panel the bill specifies the GBI’s role in establishing a rapid-response plan and a telephone alert system targeting the area around a person who is missing.

The change is intended to give law enforcement clearer protocols for responding to missing people with autism, including guidance about distinctive behaviors and common risks such as tending to migrate toward water, committee members said. "This is a bill that not just will save lives, but it helps also law enforcement on the protocols of how to handle the situation," Representative Gilliard said.

Advocates and providers spoke in favor. Amy Hughes of Hughes Public Affairs, representing the Matthew Reardon Center for Autism in Savannah, said the center’s work with children who struggle in public schools made the organization supportive of the bill and gave a recent example of the stakes involved. "I think about this type of alert system and how that might have been helpful in that situation," Hughes said, recounting a 16-year-old with autism who went missing during a church camp and was found drowned.

Ariana Botain, chief clinical officer at Atlanta Autism Center, and Anita, a parent of an 8-year-old child with autism, also urged approval. Anita said, "This bill would save lives, honestly," and described the measure as addressing parents’ fears and gaps in current responses.

Representative Scott moved the do-pass recommendation and a second was recorded; the committee then approved the motion by voice vote with no opposition announced. The transcript does not provide a roll-call tally or the name of the member who seconded the motion.

The bill’s draft and proponents emphasize verification steps before activation, designation of the GBI to help set rapid-response boundaries and telephone alerts for people in the target area, and public-service announcements to educate responders and the public. Representative Gilliard referred repeatedly to specific statutory language and line numbers in the substitute while explaining how the bill builds on Maddie’s Law.

Committee discussion noted several local examples cited by speakers, including incidents on the coast (Tybee and Jekyll Island) to illustrate risks tied to water migration for some people with autism. The committee recorded this as its only bill for the session and adjourned after the vote; next legislative steps were not specified in the transcript.