Georgia House Bill 1203, in plain language.

HB 1203 permits a landlord, the landlord's authorized agent, or counsel of record to retain off-duty peace officers — certified by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council — to oversee the execution of a writ of possession issued by a court in Fulton County, Georgia. The peace officer must have jurisdiction where the address is located.

Officers act under the authority of their employing agency pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 44-7-55 and remain subject to all rules governing their conduct as sworn law enforcement.

The bill was signed and became effective April 24, 2024. It applies to writs of possession issued in Fulton County on or after that date, subject to the procedural thresholds described below.

An off-duty officer set-out under HB 1203 may be scheduled once fourteen (14) days have elapsed from the date a judge signs the writ of possession and the writ remains unexecuted. This threshold is jurisdictional — set-outs scheduled before the threshold runs are not authorized.

No fewer than five (5) days before the proposed set-out date, an application identifying the officers, the property, and the underlying writ must be submitted to the Fulton County Marshal's Department. We will provide you guidance on how to submit this application as part of every engagement.

At least two (2) off-duty POST-certified peace officers must oversee any set-out conducted under HB 1203. We staff every set-out to comply with this requirement, and frequently exceed it on larger or higher-risk properties.

HB 1203 does not alter the underlying dispossessory process, the tenant's substantive rights, the standards by which a writ of possession is issued, or the role of the Marshal's Department as a permissible executor of the writ. It supplements — it does not replace — the existing system.