The Georgia State Senate passed a bill that would increase the number of criminal offenses for which a criminal must pay bail before release and limit the ability of individuals and non profits to post bail repeatedly.
Introduced by State Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula), SB 63 would require those judges to set bail for defendants accused of committing 30 additional crimes and remove the ability of any individual, business, nonprofit, or other group from posting “more than three cash bonds” per year.
The legislation would also mandate that any group which “purports to be charitable bail fund with the purpose of soliciting donations to use for securing the release of accused persons” be held to the same standards of bail bondsmen.
Should an individual be granted bond and then fail to appear for a scheduled court appearance, the bill would change Georgia law to demand judges immediately determine the bail forfeited and sign an arrest warrant.
Robertson (pictured above) reportedly said during floor debate that the legislation was “a good bill” and “has been vetted by many more attorneys that are in this chamber.”
Opponents claim the bill would exacerbate overcrowding and stymie community support, while State Senator Josh McLaurin (D-Sandy Springs) told Axios last week that the portion of the bill preventing groups from fundraising to post bail is “transparently targeted at protesters” of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
A portion of the racketeering indictment which targeted more than 60 activists affiliated with the protests against the public safety training center focused on how the activists raised and dispersed nearly $90,000 to get protesters out of jail, and moved nearly $50,000 to another group after learning investigators were monitoring how the money was being spent.
Announced in 2021, local protests of the center peaked in January 2023, when a protester was killed after he opened fire Georgia State Troopers, injuring one. The indictments revealed authorities recovered “ingredients for making Molotov cocktails” and “a rudimentary pipe bomb that had not been completed” after the shootout.
After passing in the Georgia Senate, the legislation will now be heard by the Georgia House, where the bill failed to pass in March 2023 despite receiving 95 votes in favor and 81 votes against.
Representative Houston Gaines (R-Athens), who sponsors the bill in the Georgia House said at the time the bill would establish “Georgia as a state that won’t accept the soft-on-crime policies that we’ve seen in places like New York, California, Illinois, or catch-and-release.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
