HB 1023 Vote Explainer: Weapons Detection Systems in Schools

Quick Take

HB 1023 was an unfunded mandate that would require public school systems to install weapons detection systems at all "main points of entry" in all public schools.

HB 1023 did not pass the Senate, but the language was re-introduced in HB 1396, which I also voted against on Sine Die.  Neither bill passed out of the legislature.

Why It Matters

School safety is an important topic, especially as we continue to see school mass shootings occur around the country. As recently as 2024, a tragic school shooting occurred just down the road in Barrow county. We should be taking serious steps to address this ongoing problem, to help ensure our students are safe when they are at school.

Key Facts

HB 1023:

• Requires school systems to install "weapons detection systems" at the main entry points to permanent buildings.
• Offers no funding to pay for such systems, their maintenance, nor their operation.

My Perspective

While this bill gained overwhelming support in the House, I voted against it for 2 reasons:

• It is a massive unfunded mandate. I asked the sponsor of the bill on the floor whether the bill included any funding. The response was that schools could use existing school safety grants to help cover the cost.
  
  • School safety grants work out to about $50,000 per school per year. That is to help cover all school safety needs and is already utilized by many schools to help offset - not cover - the cost of School Resource Officers.
    
  • Oconee Sheriff James Hale told the Oconee County Democratic Committee in March that he was glad this bill did not pass because to properly comply with the bill's requirements, he would need to hire 2 officers to operate each of 72 weapons detection systems, for a total of 144 additional staff.
  • The two points above do not even address the cost of machines & maintenance.
• Decisions like this need to be made at the local level, not at the state. It may not be appropriate to add the burden, expense, and complexity of weapons detection systems in every school system, or even every school within a system. After the 2024 Apalachee High School shooting in Barrow county, there was a months-long community conversation about implementing School Resource Officers in Oconee County Schools. The decision was made with community input, as it should be.

I was one of 11 House members who voted against this bill. Republican and Democratic members alike voted against the bill, but it did pass the House with overwhelming bipartisan support. I was pressured by my own caucus leadership to change my vote for political reasons, but I held firm because this was bad legislation.

It did not pass the Senate, though the language was inserted later into HB 1396, which I also voted against.