Georgia 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: Introduced Bipartisan · 5 D · 1 R cosponsors

HB 496 — Criminal procedure; scent of marijuana, cannabis, or hemp; provide limitations on stops, searches, seizures, or arrests

Last action — House Second Readers

  1. 1
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been introduced in the House. Introduced February 18, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Advancing 34% · moderate confidence

  • Introduced

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 6 sponsors

    1 primary, 5 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (5 D · 1 R) — cross-party backing.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to arrest by law enforcement officers generally, so as to provide for limitations on stops, searches, seizures, or arrests regarding the scent of marijuana, cannabis, or hemp on its own; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. House Second Readers

  2. House First Readers

  3. House Hopper

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 5 co-sponsors · 241 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (5)

Not signed on (241)

241 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 241 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety civil-rights health-insurance
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB 496 do?
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to arrest by law enforcement officers generally, so as to provide for limitations on stops, searches, seizures, or arrests regarding the scent of marijuana, cannabis, or hemp on its own; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
Who sponsors HB 496?
HB 496 is sponsored by Akbar Ali (Democrat), Dar'shun Kendrick (Democrat), Derrick Jackson (Democrat), Jordan Ridley (Republican), Tanya Miller (Democrat), and Jasmine Clark (Democrat).
What is the current status of HB 496?
This bill has been introduced in the House. Introduced February 18, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB 496?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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