Georgia lawmakers are seeking to raise the penalties for people who flee from police.
The House voted 95-62 on Thursday to approve House Bill 1216, sending it to the Senate for more debate.
The measure says that anyone convicted of fleeing from the police for a fourth time would be convicted of a felony. Right now, all offenses of fleeing from police in Georgia are high and aggravated misdemeanors, a category of misdemeanor that carries higher penalties.
Supporters of the change cite more than 500 pursuits conducted by state troopers as part of a crime suppression detail they have been working in metro Atlanta since April 2021. Troopers were deployed to that detail in part because some police agencies, including Atlanta, have policies that restrict police chases to only those suspected of committing the most serious offenses.
Someone convicted of a fourth offense within 10 years would be required to spend 1 to 10 years in prison and pay a fine of $5,000 to $10,000