House committee hears bill to create state domestic violence offender registry

A House committee heard testimony on House Bill 1142, which would establish a statewide domestic violence offender registry maintained by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and designed to give the public information about repeat domestic violence offenders.

The sponsor told the committee the bill "creates a domestic violence offender registry for the state of Georgia" and that "the purpose is simple, accountability for repeat offenders and awareness for those who are contemplating entering a relationship." The sponsor said the registry would function similarly to existing offender registries and would be a searchable website maintained by the GBI.

Why it matters: supporters said the registry is intended to help people make safer choices by providing easily accessible information about prior domestic violence convictions. During questioning, committee members pressed the sponsor on who would be included and how the registry would be used.

Leader Hughley asked whether the registry would capture non‑intimate family disputes ("if I get into a fight with my brother, would it capture that kind of thing?"). The sponsor replied no and pointed the committee to the bill language, saying, "we believe we have got the, on lines 32 through 36, the description of who would be included on this registry to make sure that we did not include relationships like those."

Judge Miller asked whether being listed on the registry would also prohibit a person from having a gun. The sponsor responded, "No. That is not addressed here at all unless their conviction somehow did that. Their being on the registry does not do that."

A committee member asked how the registry would be operationalized and whether it would be used to inform prosecutions. The sponsor said the registry's sole purpose is public awareness for individuals contemplating entering a relationship and that it is not intended as a prosecutorial tool.

No formal action was recorded on House Bill 1142 during the meeting; the bill was presented and discussed but not advanced to a committee vote in the transcript.