Georgia Bill Would Stop Release of Police Death Videos to Public

Proposed legislation would block Georgia police videos showing a person's death from the block, with supporters saying it's needed to stop tragic footage from being shared online.

By Mark Niessen

Source Marietta Daily Journal, Ga.

Feb. 24, 2026

3 min read

What to know

Georgia lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee delayed action on House Bill 1223, which would restrict public access to police videos depicting a person’s death, citing concerns over transparency and investigative oversight.
Supporters, including Hiram Police Chief Mike Turner, said the measure would protect families from graphic images being widely shared online, while opponents argued it could hinder media scrutiny and death investigations.
The committee rejected a proposal to allow disclosure to news organizations for investigative purposes and plans to revisit the legislation as discussions continue.

Should Georgia police videos showing a person's death be blocked from the public? — A Georgia bill would prevent police incident videos showing a person's death from being shared with the public.

ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers couldn’t agree Monday on a bill that would shield police videos from public view if they show someone’s death.

Supporters of the bill say it’s needed to prevent tragic videos from being shared with the world online, while opponents said it could hinder death investigations and weaken freedom of speech.

“The public’s right to know should not be a right for them to have access to graphic death images at their will,” Hiram Police Chief Mike Turner told the House Judiciary Committee.

State Rep. Matt Reeves, R- Duluth, said public disclosure can help uncover the truth after someone dies.

“It would be a good idea to be able to let responsible journalists investigate and ask questions about the matter, because oftentimes that’s how you get to the truth about what happened, how the person got killed,” Reeves said.

The House Judiciary Committee declined to vote on the bill Monday as legislators consider amending it.

State Rep. Joseph Gullett, the sponsor of House Bill 1223, said it’s meant to shield disclosure of police videos that show someone’s death by traffic accidents, suicides, or natural causes.

Body cam videos of police shootings or alleged police misconduct are already kept confidential in Georgia while investigations are underway. Those videos only become a public record after investigations are completed.

“If you go to YouTube, there are video after video after video of people dying, and oftentimes it’s not at the hands of the police,” said Gullett, R- Dallas. “It’s one of the worst days in the family’s life. … Those images are captured on these cameras, and that is not something that I think should be readily accessible for the YouTube community.”

The Judiciary Committee debated allowing disclosure of police videos to newspapers, TV stations or radio broadcasters for investigative news purposes, but the committee narrowly rejected that motion.

A lobbyist for the Georgia Press Association, which represents the interests of the Georgia newspaper industry, supported allowing videos to be distributed to news media organizations. Capitol Beat is a project of the Georgia Press Association.

State Rep. Scott Holcomb, D- Atlanta, said it’s important to protect the dignity of the deceased, but he said videos of law enforcement shootings deserve scrutiny.

“There could really be a significant public interest in seeing the events that led to the death,” Holcomb said. “I want to make sure we don’t want to go too far in limiting the public’s interest to observe crimes.”

The House Judiciary Committee planned to try to resolve its differences and reconsider the bill Wednesday.

This article is available through a partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Association's nonprofit, tax-exempt Educational Foundation.

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