LC 28 9812-EC A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT 1 To amend Titles 16 and 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to crimes and 2 offenses and criminal procedure, respectively, so as to create the new offense of bias 3 motivated intimidation, providing criminal and civil penalties for targeting a victim or a 4 victim's property because of the defendant's belief regarding certain attributes of the victim; 5 to provide for definitions; to repeal certain provisions regarding sentencing of defendants 6 guilty of crimes involving bias or prejudice, notification to seek enhanced penalty, and 7 determination of defendant's guilt, object of the offense, and enhancement of sentence; to 8 provide for reporting of the crime of bias motivated intimidation and the attributes of the 9 victim; to provide for related matters; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; 10 and for other purposes. 11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: 12 PART I 13 SECTION 1-1. 14 Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, related to crimes and offenses, is 15 amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows: 16 "16-11-37.2. 17 (a) As used in this Code section, the term: 18 (1) 'Attributes' means and includes: 19 (A) Age; 20 (B) Ancestry; 21 (C) Color; 22 (D) Creed; 23 (E) Culture; 24 (F) Ethnicity; 25 (G) Exercise of religious beliefs; -1- LC 28 9812-EC 26 (H) Homelessness; 27 (I) Mental disability; 28 (J) National origin; 29 (K) Physical disability; 30 (L) Race; 31 (M) Religion; 32 (N) Sex; 33 (O) Sexual orientation; 34 (P) Status of being a member of or having served in the armed forces of the United 35 States or National Guard; and 36 (Q) Status of being involved or having been involved in civil rights activities; and 37 (R) Status of exercising of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United 38 States Constitution. 39 (2) 'Culture' means the customary beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a racial, 40 ethnic, religious, or social group. 41 (3) 'Serious physical injury' means an injury that deprives a person of a member of his 42 or her body, renders a member of a person's body useless, seriously disfigures a person's 43 body or a member thereof, or causes organic brain damage which renders the body or any 44 member thereof useless. 45 (b) A person commits the offense of bias motivated intimidation when such person 46 maliciously and with the specific intent to intimidate, harass, or terrorize another person 47 because of that person's actual or perceived attributes: 48 (1) Causes death or serious physical injury to another person; or 49 (2) Damages or destroys any real or personal property of another person. 50 (c) Any person that violates subsection (b) of this Code section shall be guilty of the 51 offense of bias motivated intimidation and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by 52 imprisonment of not less than one nor more than five years, a fine of not more 53 than $5,000.00, or both. 54 (d) Each violation of this Code section shall constitute a separate offense and shall not 55 merge with any other crime. 56 (e) A sentence imposed under this Code section shall run consecutively to any sentence 57 for any other offense related to the act or acts establishing an offense under this Code 58 section. 59 (f) Charges of violating subsection (b) of this Code section shall not be prosecuted by way 60 of an accusation but only by indictment or special presentment by a grand jury. 61 (g) Notwithstanding any other remedy at law, a person that suffers an injury to his or her 62 person or property as a result of a violation of this Code section shall have a cause of action -2- LC 28 9812-EC 63 against the person violating this Code section to recover actual damages, costs, and 64 reasonable attorney's fees. 65 (h) The penalties provided in this Code section shall not preclude victims of bias motivated 66 intimidation from seeking any other remedies, criminal or civil, otherwise available." 67 PART II 68 SECTION 2-1. 69 Title 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to criminal procedure, is 70 amended by repealing and reserving in their entirety Code Section 17-10-17, relating to 71 sentencing of defendants guilty of crimes involving bias or prejudice, circumstances, and 72 parole; Code Section 17-10-18, relating to notification to seek enhanced penalty; and Code 73 Section 17-10-19, relating to determination of defendant's guilt, object of the offense, and 74 enhancement of sentence. 75 PART III 76 SECTION 3-1. 77 Title 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to criminal procedure, is 78 amended in Article 2 of Chapter 4, relating to arrest by law enforcement officers generally, 79 by adding a new Code section to read as follows: 80 "17-4-20.2. 81 (a) Whenever a law enforcement officer investigates an incident of an alleged violation of 82 Code Section 16-11-37.2, regarding bias motivated intimidation, whether or not an arrest 83 is made, the officer shall prepare and submit to the law enforcement officer's supervisor or 84 other designated person a written report of the incident entitled 'Bias Motivated 85 Intimidation Report.' Forms for such reports shall be designed and provided by the Georgia 86 Bureau of Investigation. The report shall include: 87 (1) Names of the parties; 88 (2) Relationship of the parties; 89 (3) Sex of the parties; 90 (4) Race of the parties; 91 (5) Dates of birth of the parties; 92 (6) Time, place, and date of the incident; 93 (7) Whether there is evidence to indicate that the incident occurred because of a person's 94 actual or perceived attributes as defined by subsection (a) of Code Section 16-11-37.2; 95 (8) Type and extent of the alleged violation; -3- LC 28 9812-EC 96 (9) Existence of any objects or symbols associated with the terrorizing of persons based 97 upon actual or perceived ethnicity, race, religion, or sex; 98 (10) Number and types of weapons involved, if any; 99 (11) Existence of any prior difficulties between the parties; 100 (12) Type of police action taken in disposition of case; 101 (13) Whether the victim was apprised of available remedies and services; and 102 (14) Any other information the officer deems pertinent. 103 (b) The report provided for in subsection (a) of this Code section shall be considered for 104 statistical purposes only and, where no arrests are made, shall not be subject to the 105 provisions of Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50. However, upon request, a defendant who 106 has been arrested for a violation of Code Section 16-11-37.2 or the victim shall be entitled 107 to review and copy any report prepared in accordance with this Code section relating to the 108 defendant 109 (c) Each police department, including local precincts and county sheriff departments, shall 110 report, according to rules and regulations of the Georgia Crime Information Center, all 111 incidents involving alleged violations of Code Section 16-11-37.2, both arrests and 112 nonarrests, to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which shall compile and analyze 113 statistics of bias motivated intimidation crimes and cause them to be published annually 114 in the Georgia Uniform Crime Reports. An offense shall be counted for each incident 115 reported to the police. A zero shall be reported if no incidents have occurred during the 116 reporting period." 117 PART IV 118 SECTION 4-1. 119 This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law 120 without such approval. 121 122 SECTION 4-2. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed. -4-