# Georgia

Every law and rule change USCLI tracks for Georgia, across the professions, on one page. Each entry links to its full write-up and official sources.

Source: https://uscli.org/states/georgia

## Licensing Ledger

Georgia licenses private detective companies, and registers the detectives they employ, through the Board of Private Detective and Security Agencies in the Secretary of State’s Professional Licensing Boards Division. No act amending the Board’s statute, O.C.G.A. 43-38, was found from 2023 through October 2026; the changes came from Board rules and from general laws for professional licensing boards.

[Full Georgia page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed](https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/georgia) (9 entries).

- Jul 1, 2026 — **[Division director may issue and renew licenses for licensing boards](https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/georgia#hb-579)** — House Bill 579, Act 89 (2025) — Adds O.C.G.A. 43-1-3.1. The director of the Professional Licensing Boards Division may review applications to issue, renew, or reinstate a license and, if every qualification is met, act on the board’s behalf; other applications go to the board. New…
- May 12, 2026 — **[Criminal record review and preclearance for licensing boards](https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/georgia#sb-207)** — Senate Bill 207, Act 628 (2026) — O.C.G.A. 43-1-19(q) already limited denials and revocations for a criminal record to offenses that directly relate to the occupation. For applications filed on or after July 1, 2027, SB 207 replaces “crime involving moral turpitude” with “covered…
- Jan 1, 2025 — **[Military spouses may work while an endorsement application is pending](https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/georgia#hb-880)** — House Bill 880, Act 485 (2024) — Amends O.C.G.A. 43-1-34 and 43-1-35(b) and (e). The spouse of a service member stationed in Georgia who holds a current license in good standing from another state may practice without a Georgia license while an expedited license-by-endorsement application…
- Jul 1, 2024 — **[Amber light law lists private detective business vehicles](https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/georgia#hb-1193)** — House Bill 1193, Act 510 (2024) — Rewrites O.C.G.A. 40-8-35. New subsection (b) lists vehicles that “shall utilize” flashing or revolving amber lights under the conditions it sets, and paragraph (13) is a vehicle operated in the course of business by a person licensed or registered as a…
- Jul 1, 2024 — **[Residency no longer required for license by endorsement](https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/georgia#sb-195)** — Senate Bill 195, Act 555 (2024) — Mainly enacts the Social Work Licensure Compact, but section 3 also amends O.C.G.A. 43-1-35(c) to remove the requirement that an endorsement applicant first move to Georgia and establish residency. Section 3 applies to every professional licensing board…

## Officer Ledger

Georgia certifies peace officers through the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST), which decides discipline case by case. Since 2023 the State has extended criminal and civil immunity to officers whose force is justified under the arrest statute, set a statutory procedure for prosecutors’ Giglio lists, and revised the certification rules for sheriff candidates, and the POST Council has nearly doubled the basic academy.

[Full Georgia page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/georgia) (4 entries).

- Sep 23, 2025 — **[Executive director may suspend officers who break POST probation](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/georgia#post-probation-sop)** — POST Council Standard Operating Procedure Governing POST Probation Cases (not a rule) — The POST Council approved a procedure under which “the Executive Director of POST now has the authority to Suspend the Certification of an Officer who is not in compliance with the conditions of their POST sanctioned probation.” The suspension lasts until…
- Sep 23, 2025 — **[Basic academy about doubled: 408 to 809 hours, then 784](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/georgia#bletc-hours)** — POST Council curriculum votes (not a rule or statute) — In June 2024 the POST Council approved a curriculum update for the Basic Law Enforcement Training Course, “increasing the training hours to 809 hours from the 408 hours that had not seen a major curriculum update in 15 years.” On September 23, 2025, it…
- May 12, 2025 — **[Giglio list procedure; no sanction solely for listing; sheriff candidate rules revised](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/georgia#hb-288)** — HB 288 (2025), Act 115 — Defines a “Giglio list” as a prosecutor’s list of officers “disqualified from trial testimony because of identified or alleged issues of credibility or bias” (35-8-2). New 15-18-33: a prosecutor who lists an officer must send written notice of the factual…
- 2024 — **[Immunity extended to force justified under the arrest statute](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/georgia#sb-517)** — SB 517 (2024) — O.C.G.A. 16-3-24.2 gives immunity from criminal prosecution to a person who uses threats or force in line with the self-defense sections “or 17-4-20,” the statute on arrests and use of force by officers. Under 51-11-9, a person justified under those…

## Forensic Ledger

Georgia has no forensic science commission, no statute requiring crime lab accreditation, and no analyst license. The GBI Division of Forensic Sciences runs the state crime lab. Expert evidence is judged under a statutory Daubert standard that has applied in criminal cases since July 1, 2022. Since 2023 the State has added one group to its conviction-based DNA database: people convicted of a felony who are subject to an immigration detainer.

[Full Georgia page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed](https://uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/georgia) (1 entry).

- May 1, 2024 — **[DNA taken from people convicted of a felony who are subject to an immigration detainer](https://uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/georgia#hb-1105)** — HB 1105 (2024), Act 505, sec. 13 — The act amends O.C.G.A. 35-3-160(b)(1) to add (C): a DNA sample must be taken from anyone convicted of a felony who is subject to an immigration detainer notice under 42-4-16. The detention facility or supervising entity sends the sample to the GBI…