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Georgia subcommittee tightens guardrails on GPS tracking warrants, approves amendment
Summary
A House judiciary subcommittee advanced a bill to limit and clarify judicial authority over post‑warrant vehicle GPS tracking, adding an amendment requiring warrant applications to state whether a tracked object or vehicle is co‑owned or co‑used and to specify tracking duration. Witnesses and defenders said the changes tighten oversight.
A Georgia House judiciary noncivil subcommittee on Feb. 23 advanced legislation that would narrow and clarify how courts authorize attaching GPS devices to vehicles after probable‑cause warrants are issued.
The bill, presented as LC630093, would require a higher‑level judge to sign tracking orders, give judges discretion to set the territorial reach of an order (county, multiple counties or statewide) and let judges limit how long a device may be in use. The presenter told the committee the changes are intended to "tighten it up and put some guardrails on it." Committee members questioned whether state‑court judges should be included; the presenter said the district attorney's Metro Drug Squad requested the changes.
Maisie Lynn Guertin, executive director of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, testified in support of a drafting amendment and explained why some technologies, such as license‑plate readers and certain drone or camera uses, are being excluded from the mobile‑tracking‑device definition: "Those devices don't require warrants because they're just capturing publicly available information," she said, arguing the bill should focus on small devices that are physically attached to a vehicle.
After back‑and‑forth on whether an application should state whether a vehicle is co‑owned or co‑used — a clause intended to avoid surveilling people who merely occasionally use a vehicle — a committee member moved and the panel approved an amendment that adds a requirement that applications identify the person and object to be tracked and include whether the object or vehicle is co‑owned or co‑used, plus a statement of requested duration and justification. The committee then voted to advance the bill to the next stage as amended.
What happens next: The subcommittee advanced House Bill 12‑70, LC630093, as amended; the measure will go to the full committee for further consideration.
