Committee approves agency bill to restructure State Fire office, tighten oversight and add appeals process

The Public Safety Committee unanimously passed SB 501 after a brief presentation from the Georgia Insurance Commissioner's Office and a short amendment to correct a drafting error.

Bryce Raulston, director of legislative affairs for the Georgia Insurance Commissioner's Office, told the committee the measure "creates a deputy commissioner of state fire" so the state fire marshal can focus on enforcing fire safety standards, establishes a consistent hearing process, adds an appeal mechanism for parties aggrieved by local building permit rulings and increases oversight of deputized local fire marshals.

The bill also would allow the commissioner to issue an immediate evacuation order if a building presents an imminent life‑safety danger, expand fire fatality reporting from coroners and medical examiners to ensure accurate counts of fire fatalities, and increase penalties for violations of Title 25, adding imprisonment up to 12 months and fines up to $1,000 per violation.

Committee members moved a minor amendment to remove an erroneous word (line 96) identified by legislative counsel; the amendment was adopted, and the committee voted the bill out unanimously.

Next steps: SB 501 will advance to the Rules Committee.