HB 253 Georgia House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Ethan's Law; enact

Summary
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 11 of Title 15 and Article 1 of Chapter 9 of Title 19 of the Official Code Georgia Annotated, relating to the juvenile code and general provisions relative to child custody proceedings, so as to enact "Ethan's Law"; to provide limitations on ordering a child to be sent to a family reunification program; to provide for a definition; to provide for related matters; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Governor
Introduced Feb 4, 2025 Last action Apr 4, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

LC 56 0329S/hs LC 56 0329S/hcs · 1 edit
MINOR
The bill text was reformatted from a committee substitute introduction to a formal House Bill 253 header, listing the sponsoring representatives. This appears to be a procedural change in how the bill is presented rather than a substantive policy modification.
TECHNICAL

The bill header was changed from a committee substitute note to a formal House Bill 253 title with sponsor names, indicating a procedural formatting update rather than a policy change.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 2, 2025 · House Feb 26, 2025

How they voted

540
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 55
Apr 2, 2025
D Democratic22
22 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican33
32 Yea 1
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
14
Key actions
4
Committee
3
Amendments
1
Apr 4, 2025
Introduced
House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As Amended
lower
Apr 2, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute
upper
Mar 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
upper
Feb 27, 2025
Committee
Senate Read and Referred
upper
Feb 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
House Passed/Adopted By Substitute
lower
Feb 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
lower
Feb 4, 2025
Introduced
House Hopper
lower
6 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors