R Street Testimony in Support of GA House Bill 984: “Georgia Second Look Act”

Testimony from:
Sarah Anderson, Associate Director, Criminal Justice & Civil Liberties, R Street Institute

In SUPPORT of House Bill 984: “Georgia Second Look Act”

February 25, 2026

House Committee on Judiciary Non-Civil

Chairman Smith and members of the committee,

My name is Sarah Anderson, and I serve as the Associate Director of Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties at the R Street Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization dedicated to advancing limited, effective government and evidence-based solutions to complex policy challenges. We have a particularly vested interest in creating a system that holds offenders accountable to their actions, yet still allows for successful rehabilitation and an opportunity to truly leave life’s mistakes behind when earned. This is why we have a strong interest today in House Bill 894, the Georgia Second Look Act.^[1]

This bill would establish a structured process whereby individuals who have served at least 20 years in prison, may petition the sentencing court for a sentence reduction, subject to defined criteria, procedural safeguards, and judicial discretion.^[2]

Second look policies like this one are grounded in a simple but powerful proposition: people are capable of change and rehabilitation, and our justice system should allow for and encourage that possibility where appropriate.^[3] Substantial empirical research demonstrates that individuals, especially those who committed offenses at younger ages, experience significant cognitive, emotional, and psychosocial development as they age. These developmental realities are reflected in decades of desistance research showing that the likelihood of reoffense declines sharply with age.^[4]

HB 894 aligns Georgia’s sentencing framework with this well-established evidence base, permitting courts to consider age, maturity, rehabilitation, and current risk when evaluating individuals who have served large portions of their lengthy sentences.^[5]

It is important to emphasize what this bill is and what it is not. HB 894 does not guarantee release for any individual. It creates a meaningful, structured opportunity for review upon petition, but leaves final decision-making authority with the sentencing court. The bill preserves due process by requiring notice to victims and prosecutors, by ensuring the right to counsel for petitioners who cannot afford one, and by allowing for appellate review of decisions. 

Under HB 894, a judge presiding over a petition must evaluate a comprehensive set of factors, including the nature and circumstances of the offense, disciplinary and rehabilitative records, age and maturity, community ties, risk assessments, victim impact statements, and any evidence of innocence or ineffective assistance of counsel. This framework ensures that decisions are individualized and grounded in both accountability and public safety. The bill also includes commonsense procedural safeguards. Prosecutorial consent retains a role in the process and may expand eligibility in appropriate circumstances, while limitations on successive or frivolous petitions guard against abuse of process. 

From a public safety perspective, second look review makes sense. Recidivism declines dramatically with age. Individuals who have spent decades incarcerated and shown sustained compliance and rehabilitation are statistically less likely to pose a future risk than their younger selves.^[6] HB 894 recognizes this reality while preserving judicial discretion to deny release where risk remains. 

From a fiscal perspective, the bill also reflects responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars. In Georgia, average carceral costs amount to nearly $40,000 per person, per year.^[7] Correctional expenditures rise steeply as the prison population ages, though, driven largely by healthcare costs associated with chronic illness and disability.^[8] Allowing courts to reconsider lengthy sentences after 20 years for this aging population enables the state to focus resources where they are most needed: on individuals who remain a demonstrable risk to public safety, rather than on those whose incarceration yields minimal benefit.

Second look can also provide Georgia with the added benefit of reducing prison overcrowding. As we noted in past research, “consultants for Governor Brian Kemp’s administration, staffing vacancies at the majority of the state’s 34 prisons have reached ‘emergency levels,’ guards face ‘constant fear and fatigue,’ and 82.7 percent of newly hired staff leave within the first year of employment.”^[9] Reducing overcrowding can dramatically reduce burdens on correctional staff that contribute to attrition.^[10]

Beyond evidence and economics, this legislation advances a core principle of justice. Punishment should be proportionate not only at the moment of sentencing, but across the arc of a person’s life, recognizing their ability to change. People can and do rehabilitate. Courts should have the ability to recognize and to respond to that transformation in appropriate cases.

HB 894 balances accountability with redemption, victims’ rights with procedural fairness, and public safety with evidence-based policymaking. It does not erase past harm, eliminate accountability, or diminish the seriousness of crime. Instead, it incentivizes the rehabilitation we all should hope for in individuals who are incarcerated, and gives judges the tools to weigh decades of rehabilitation, development, conduct, and risk in a transparent and structured manner. For these reasons, we strongly support HB 984 and urge the committee to issue a favorable report.

Thank you,

Sarah Anderson
Associate Director, Criminal Justice & Civil Liberties
R Street Institute
sanderson@rstreet.org

[1] Georgia General Assembly, 2026 Legislative Session, House Bill 984, Last Accessed February 24, 2026: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71938.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Becky Feldman, “The Second Look Movement: A Review of the Nation’s Sentence Review Laws,” The Sentencing Project, May 15, 2024: https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/the-second-look-movement-a-review-of-the- nations-sentence-review-laws/.

[4] “The Older You Get: Why Incarcerating the Elderly Makes us Less Safe,” FAMM Foundation, April 19, 2022: https://famm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Aging-out-of-crime-FINAL.pdf.

[5] JaneAnne Murray, et al., “Second Look = Second Chance: Turning The Tide Through NACDL’s Model Second Look Legislation,” National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2021: https://www.nacdl.org/getattachment/c0269ccf-831b-4266-bbaf-76679aa83589/second-look-second-chance-the- nacdl-model-second-look-legislation.pdf.

[6] Gordon B Dahl, and Magne Mogstad, “The Benefits of Rehabilitative Incarceration,” National Bureau of Economic Research, April 6, 2020: https://www.nber.org/reporter/2020number1/benefits-rehabilitative- incarceration.

[7] USA Facts team, “How much do states spend on prisoners?,” USA Facts, April 17, 2024: https://usafacts.org/articles/how-much-do-states-spend-on-prisons.

[8] Matt McKillop and Alex Boucher, “Aging Prison Populations Drive Up Costs,” Pew Charitable Trusts, February 20, 2018: https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2018/02/20/aging-prison-populations-drive-up-costs.

[9] Sarah Anderson, “Georgia’s Criminal Justice Crossroads: Post-Conviction Issues in the Peach State,” R Street Institute, September 11, 2025: https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/georgias-criminal-justice-crossroads-post-conviction-issues-in-the-peach-state/.

[10] Erica Bryant, “Corrections Staffing Shortages Offer Chance to Rethink Prison: A Staffing crisis has created dangerous conditions in prisons. To create safety, reduce the number of people entering prison, and release people who can safely return home,” Vera Institute, November 1, 2024: https://www.vera.org/news/corrections-staffing-shortages-offer-chance-to-rethink-prison.