Bill allowing Georgia property owners to sue over homelessness, immigration clears House

The Georgia House of Representatives passed a measure Wednesday that could allow property owners to sue city and county governments if they fail to enforce state laws related to homelessness, public safety and immigration. House Bill 295, sponsored by Athens Republican Rep. Houston Gaines, passed with a 98-75 vote, clearing the lower chamber just ahead […]

The Georgia House of Representatives passed a measure Wednesday that could allow property owners to sue city and county governments if they fail to enforce state laws related to homelessness, public safety and immigration.

House Bill 295, sponsored by Athens Republican Rep. Houston Gaines, passed with a 98-75 vote, clearing the lower chamber just ahead of a key legislative deadline. It now moves to the Senate for consideration.

The bill targets local governments that may have “pervasive, systemic, or organized” practices that decline to enforce laws against illegal public camping, loitering, drug possession, shoplifting or the state’s ban on “sanctuary policies” that limit cities from working with federal immigration authorities. If cities or counties are found liable, property owners can sue for financial harm from lost property value.

“If a local government refuses to do its job, we’re going to hit that local government in the pocketbook and put the money back in the hands of the property owners who have been harmed,” Gaines, who is also a candidate for the 10th Congressional District, said during floor debate.

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Todd Edwards, director of governmental affairs for the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, said the organization has noticed a “disturbing trend.” There has been a wave of bills in recent years that waive local governments’ sovereign immunity, which is a standard that generally protects government entities from being sued. Edwards said he sees Gaines’ bill as part of that trend. 

Edwards said the association, which represents counties at the state Capitol, does not support the bill but was able to negotiate with Gaines to “incorporate many safeguards,” ensuring it’s not a “blanket” waiver of local government’s sovereign immunity.

“If it’s just an open, all-out waiver of immunity, that means local governments — thus taxpayers — can be sued,” Edwards said. “And this would be a trial attorney’s dream to be able to go after the public purse.”

Rep. Clint Crowe, a Jackson Republican and chair of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, argued the bill is not a “blank check” for litigation but needed accountability on the local level. He noted that damages are capped at the amount of property taxes the owner paid in the previous year.

“What it does is it creates a civil remedy for property owners when (a) local government formally adopts a policy of non-enforcement, when that policy causes documented financial harm … The local government has 30 days to act. If it refuses, the owner may seek relief in the courts. That is the process. It is measured. It is documented. It is not a blank check. It is a backstop,” Crowe said.

Debate on the House floor was divided along party lines, with Democrats arguing that the bill criminalizes poverty while failing to provide the resources needed to solve the underlying issues.

“What it does instead is expose cities and counties to financial liability if they do not enforce certain laws aggressively enough, even when enforcement is not the right or effective response,” said Avondale Estates Democrat Rep. Karla Drenner.

But Rep. Jesse Petrea, a Republican from Savannah, said he hears from business owners about homeless people “defecating on the front stoop, the back stoop, public camping on private property,” saying it is a “cruel” act to allow someone “to live in squalor and filth and not ensure and encourage local governments to move them to a place where they at least have the fundamentals that every human being should have.”

“There’s a better way to serve people than to just ignore the laws that we have on the books,” Petrea said.

The bill also specifically targets so-called “sanctuary” policies. If passed, it would require local governments to cooperate with federal immigration authorities as mandated by state law.

Gaines cited cases where local governments allegedly refused to transfer detainees to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s custody, arguing that “public safety depends on coordination between local, state and federal authorities.”

“When a local government chooses ideology over enforcement, it sends the message that our laws are optional,” Gaines said.

Rep. Gabriel Sanchez, a Smyrna Democrat, called the measure “a direct attack on the most disadvantaged communities.”

“This bill hates immigrants and the unhoused so deeply and uncompromisingly that it leverages against them the wealth and privilege that they are already denied,” Sanchez said. “This bill is yet another example of prioritizing the needs of the wealthy over the needs of everyone else.”

The bill now goes to the Senate, where Edwards with the association that represents counties says they will continue to advocate for “safeguards” to protect local governments’ sovereignty.

Friday is Crossover Day, which is a deadline for a bill to pass its chamber of origin in order to have a smooth path to becoming law before the end of the legislative session. The session is set to end April 2.

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