In April 2025, Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 68 into law — the most significant rewrite of Georgia’s civil justice rules in two decades. While the law touched everything from jury procedure to medical damages, no area was reshaped more dramatically than negligent security — the type of premises liability claim brought by people hurt by criminal acts on unsafe properties.
If you or a loved one was injured at an apartment complex, hotel, gas station, or parking lot, here is what the new law actually says — and what it means for your case.
What SB 68 Says About Negligent Security
1. A heightened foreseeability standard
Before SB 68, Georgia courts asked broadly whether a crime was foreseeable to the property owner. The new law, which amended the duties owed under O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1, replaces that flexible test with specific statutory triggers. For invitees — tenants, customers, and guests — a property owner can generally be held liable for third-party criminal conduct only if one of the following is true:
- The owner received a specific warning of imminent harm and had actual knowledge of it;
- Substantially similar crimes previously occurred on the property and the owner knew about them;
- Substantially similar crimes occurred within 500 yards of the property, with the owner’s actual knowledge; or
- The same perpetrator had engaged in prior conduct the owner knew or should have known about.
For licensees and trespassers, the standards are stricter still. The practical effect: a victim’s case now lives or dies on documented crime history and proof of what the owner actually knew.
2. Mandatory apportionment of fault to the criminal
SB 68 requires juries in negligent security cases to divide fault among the property owner, any security contractor, and the criminal who committed the act. It then goes further: if the jury assigns less total fault to the perpetrators than to the owner and its contractors, the verdict is presumed unreasonable and the trial court must set it aside and order a new trial unless that presumption is rebutted. This is one of the most defendant-friendly provisions in the entire law, and it directly affects how much a victim can recover from the property owner.
3. Other changes that affect premises cases
- Medical damages: new rules on how medical bills are presented and valued at trial, aimed at the amounts actually paid rather than amounts billed.
- Prospective application: the negligent security provisions apply to causes of action arising on or after the law’s effective date — older incidents are governed by the prior law.
- Companion legislation (SB 69): regulates third-party litigation funding, with key provisions effective January 1, 2026, and makes funding agreements discoverable in many cases.
What SB 68 Means If You Were Hurt on an Unsafe Property
Your case is harder — not hopeless
Headlines called SB 68 the end of negligent security litigation in Georgia. That is an exaggeration. Apartment complexes with years of police calls, gas stations with documented robberies, and hotels that ignored prior assaults can still be held accountable. What changed is the burden of proof: cases must now be built on specific, admissible evidence of prior substantially similar crimes and the owner’s actual knowledge.
Evidence must be secured immediately
Police call logs, 911 records, prior incident reports, surveillance footage, and security staffing records are now the foundation of every claim. Much of this evidence is overwritten, purged, or ‘lost’ within weeks. Georgia’s two-year statute of limitations is the legal deadline, but the real evidence deadline is measured in days.
Apportionment makes attorney skill matter more
Because juries must now assign a meaningful share of fault to the criminal, the way your trial team frames the owner’s independent failures — broken gates, disabled cameras, ignored warnings — directly determines your recovery. This interacts with Georgia’s modified comparative fault rule, which already reduces or bars recovery based on a victim’s own share of fault.
How This Affects What Your Case Is Worth
Between apportionment and the new medical damages rules, insurers are valuing premises claims differently than they did before 2025. Victims with severe injuries — gunshot wounds, brain injuries, or the loss of a family member pursued through a wrongful death claim — should be especially cautious about early settlement offers. For context on valuation, see our guide: How Much Is My Personal Injury Case Worth in Georgia?
Talk to a Georgia Premises Liability Team That Tries Cases
Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins LLP has litigated Georgia premises liability cases for more than 50 years. Our Atlanta negligent security lawyers know exactly what evidence SB 68 demands and how to secure it before it disappears. Contact us for a free consultation or call (404) 688-4503.
Editorial note: this post summarizes SB 68 for general information and is not legal advice. Have an attorney review before publishing. Consider adding the official legislature link (legis.ga.gov SB 68) as an external authority citation — strong GEO/E-E-A-T signal.
Add a Comment