The bill would have removed the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council’s authority over the public defender system and changed it to an advisory body only. The public defender system itself would have changed from an independent entity to a state agency named the Georgia Public Defender Agency.
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The purpose of this bill would have been to revise Georgia sex offender laws to promote the isolation of dangerous sexual predators from the public and ensure that they are adequately monitored in a manner that is constitutional. The key focus of the bill would have been to ensure the
The Act requires the Department of Corrections to administer an HIV test to prison inmates within thirty days before their release from prison if they were incarcerated for at least one year. Inmates must be notified of the results of the HIV test in writing, and information pertaining to positive
The Act provides for the imposition of life without parole for persons convicted of murder independent of a death penalty prosecution. The Act provides that the sentence of life without parole may be imposed without the necessity of the trier of fact making a recommendation of such sentence or finding
The Act provides the defense and the prosecution with an equal number of peremptory strikes in criminal trials. The Act establishes the number of peremptory challenges at three strikes for misdemeanors, nine strikes for felonies, and fifteen strikes for cases seeking the death penalty. The Act gives the prosecuting attorney
The Georgia Indigent Defense Act creates a state-wide public defender system overseen by the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council. The Council will establish guidelines to ensure consistent and quality legal representation of all indigent defendants. The Act addresses qualification and training, caseload size, performance and compensation standards, as well as
The Act changes the provisions related to sexual offender registration requirements that apply to certain sex offenders, including making registration requirements applicable to persons sentenced pursuant to Article 3 of Chapter 8 of Title 42, relating to first offenders; making registration requirements applicable to persons who plead nolo contendre to
The Act imposes a mandatory term of imprisonment of not less than ten years for a defendant who commits a serious violent felony. The Act further provides that no portion of the ten-year sentence may be suspended, stayed, or reduced by any form of parole or commutation. The seven serious
The Act provides for privately-operated prisons to utilize state inmate labor in the same way that state-run prisons utilize inmate labor. Profits from any labor or products by these inmates will go to the state. The Act also provides for an official custodian of the Department of Corrections records and
