The Georgia General Assembly, in the final hour of this year’s lawmaking session, gave final passage to a measure allowing property owners to sue local governments for failing to enforce laws related to homelessness and immigration. The measure only applies if a local government has a “policy, pattern, or practice” of failing to follow the […]
Rep. Houston Gaines, a Republican from Athens, presents House Bill 295, which would that would allow property owners to sue local governments if they fail to enforce laws related to homelessness, public safety and immigration, during a session of the Georgia House of Representatives on April 2, 2026, in Atlanta. Alander Rocha/Georgia Recorder
The Georgia General Assembly, in the final hour of this year’s lawmaking session, gave final passage to a measure allowing property owners to sue local governments for failing to enforce laws related to homelessness and immigration.
The measure only applies if a local government has a “policy, pattern, or practice” of failing to follow the state’s ban on immigration sanctuary policies or enforce laws against illegal camping, loitering, panhandling, shoplifting or public drug use.
State Sen. Clint Dixon, a Gwinnett Republican, described House Bill 295 as being about public safety and accountability in a speech on the Senate floor, calling it “basic fairness” for homeowners who incur expenses due to loss of property value when local governments “choose ideology over enforcement.”
“At the end of the day, this bill says something very simple: enforce the law to cooperate with immigration enforcement and protect property rights,” Dixon said.
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Athens Republican state Rep. Houston Gaines, the bill’s sponsor who is also a candidate for Congress, called it “important legislation to hold local governments accountable that are not enforcing the law” from the House floor Thursday night before walking away from the well without taking any questions.
Opponents, however, criticized the bill as a policy that criminalizes poverty while exposing municipalities to a wave of expensive, taxpayer-funded litigation. If signed by Gov. Brian Kemp, a property owner can file a claim for compensation if a local government adopts a “pervasive, systemic, or organized” policy of declining to enforce existing laws against illegal public camping, loitering, panhandling or drug possession.
If the local government rejects the claim or fails to act within 30 days, the owner is authorized to sue in superior court for documented expenses or the reduction in their property’s fair market value.
State Sen. Josh McLaurin, a Sandy Springs Democrat and a candidate for lieutenant governor, said that the bill counters recent efforts to limit lawsuit payouts and create more balance between plaintiffs and defendants during personal injury trials. McLaurin said Georgia already has an anti-sanctuary city law on the books that subjects local governments to having state funds withheld if they enact a sanctuary policy.
“What you’re inviting is a bunch of court cases where homeowners who are aggrieved at the local government can come make spurious claims about causation, and have essentially a circus in court, which wastes judges’ time, it wastes juries’ time. And the worst-case scenario is, if you don’t throw out the case, you get a jury that’s just as inflamed politically about immigration issues, and maybe they award damages,” McLaurin said.
Advocacy groups issued statements immediately following the vote, calling on Kemp to veto the measure. The National Homeless Law Center claimed the bill was pushed by out-of-state think tanks that they argue are using Georgia as an experiment for a national anti-homeless agenda.
“These groups are using Georgia as a testing ground for this next escalation in their agenda: they’ve already made it a crime to be homeless, and now they’ll coerce cities into punishing homeless people in the harshest ways possible,” said Jesse Rabinowitz from the National Homelessness Law Center.
Mike Brownfield, a spokesman for the Goldwater Institute, said the organization supported HB 295 and cited a blog post by Brian Norman, the director of state affairs, that published after the bill’s passage, stating that the proposal “echoes the spirit” of similar legislation the organization backed in Arizona.
“The lesson from Arizona is clear: accountability works. When local governments know they can be held financially responsible, they are far more likely to enforce the laws already on the books in a way that respects both public safety and individual rights,” Norman wrote on Friday.
Adelina Nicholls of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights said in a statement that this measure encourages lawsuits and pushes local governments toward harsher law enforcement, making communities less safe.
“HB 295 doesn’t solve homelessness. It punishes it,” Nicholls said.
The bill now moves to Kemp’s desk after final votes in the Senate (34-19) and in the House (93-76), largely along party lines. Kemp has a 40-day period to decide whether to sign or veto legislation.
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