Deal signs bill to fight human trafficking: Governor modernizes Georgia legal code, including updated Rules of Evidence

Gov. Nathan Deal today signed three bills pertaining to legal issues at the State Bar of Georgia and signed two bills advocated by the Women’s Caucus at My Sister’s House, an Atlanta facility that offers overnight shelter and residential discipleship programs for homeless women and women with children.

Bill signing at State Bar:

HB 24 modernizes the Rules of Evidence
Current Rules of Evidence are nearly 150 years old
Brings OCGA in line with Federal Rules of Evidence pertaining to hearsay
Georgia becomes the 45th state to modernize

HB 238 revamps the Georgia Public Defenders Standards Council
Agency has been plagued with issues
Gives more autonomy to Director
Reconstitutes the Council

HB 415 provides for a statewide jury pool
Since the 1960s, Georgia has used forced balancing to ensure demographic groups within counties are proportionally represented in the jury pool.
Ends forced balancing and implements a series of procedures and rules to compile a statewide, inclusive juror source list. It calls for the Council of Superior Court Clerks to establish and maintain a statewide master jury list and requires the Department of Driver Services and the Secretary of State to provide certain information to the Council of Superior Court Clerks.
The council will screen driver license records, vital records and voter registration records to create a more inclusive source list of eligible jurors. The database will be cleaned of duplicates, bad addresses and the names of felons and deceased people. Then the Council of Superior Court Clerks will certify and distribute an inclusive list to each individual county’s Board of Jury Commissioners.

Bill Signing at My Sister’s House:

“Human trafficking is a repugnant crime that is growing like a cancer in our society,” Deal said. “Signing this bill into law, I join my fellow Georgians in declaring moral outrage and vowing to fight human trafficking here in our state. These criminals rob their victims of freedom and human dignity, and they destroy lives. With this bill now a law, we will find these criminals and we will punish them harshly.”

HB 200 addresses human trafficking
Strengthens the punishment against traffickers by increasing the minimum imprisonment for any person who commits the offense of trafficking a person for labor or sexual servitude and subjects the convicted to a fine.
Increases the punishment for any person who commits the offense of trafficking a person for labor or sexual servitude against a person who is under the age of 18 years
Protects those that fall victim to predators whom act on their state of desperation by providing that a person shall NOT be guilty of a sexual crime if the conduct upon which the alleged criminal liability is based was committed under coercion or deception while the accused was being trafficked for sexual servitude

HB 503 provides for the Georgia Crime Victims Emergency Fund to cover the costs of medical exams of alleged victims of rape
Ensures that victims will have these exams paid for and that the responsibility will not fall on local law enforcement that have budget constraints

-----

Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG @FayetteFP

DHS: Furlough Plan Will Not Affect Critical Services

As the Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) prepares to close operations on state-mandated furlough days, critical human services like child welfare and adult protective services will still be available throughout Georgia during the scheduled closings.

DHS will close offices on 12 separate days between September 2009 and June 2010. All but two of those days will be Fridays in order to have the minimum impact on the availability of services. Although DHS offices will be closed on furlough days, the public can still gain access to virtual services by visiting www.dhs.georgia.gov. In addition, DHS employees will still receive reports of child or elder abuse.

“Taking these furlough days is the best way to address Georgia’s budget shortfall while avoiding massive layoffs,” said DHS Commissioner B.J. Walker. “But even on the few days when our physical offices must close, we will be vigilant for Georgia’s children and elders who need protection.”

During furlough days, the procedure for reporting child or elder abuse remains the same. If a child or older adult is in immediate danger, call 911 immediately. In all other cases, child abuse, neglect or exploitation concerns should be reported to the DFCS office in the county where the child lives. A list of DFCS offices is available at the DFCS web site at http://dfcs.dhr.georgia.gov/.

Non-emergency reports of elder abuse, neglect or exploitation should be made by calling the Adult Protective Services (APS) Central Intake Unit toll-free at (888) 774-0152. Metro Atlanta residents can call (404) 657-5250.

DHS offices will close on the following days:

● Friday, September 4, 2009
● Friday, October 9, 2009
● Wednesday, November 25, 2009
● Thursday, December 31, 2009
● Friday, January 8, 2010
● Friday, February 5, 2010
● Friday, March 5, 2010
● Friday, April 2, 2010
● Friday, May 7, 2010
● Friday, May 21, 2010
● Friday, June 4, 2010
● Friday, June 18, 2010
---
Community News You Can Use
Follow us on Twitter: @gafrontpage
www.FayetteFrontPage.com
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
www.PoliticalPotluck.com
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
---