Overview
- A Georgia House committee passed SB 482 with changes that grant limited exemptions to members of the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Association of Broadcasters.
- Most requesters would have to appear in person with a notarized document to obtain a mugshot or body-camera video.
- Recordings that show a death would be available only to next of kin and to those two media groups, and the bill expands who courts may recognize as next of kin.
- The bill keeps a strict filing rule for everyone that requires naming a person in the image or, for video, providing the time, location, or the officer, and it lets police blur people the requester cannot identify except for officers.
- The bill now heads to the House floor after a Senate vote earlier in March, as supporters cite mugshot profiteering and graphic-video abuse and critics point to cases like Johnny Hollman’s to warn the rules would blunt public oversight.