Georgia school visitor management law
Georgia requires every public school's safety plan to include plans to restrict entry and to say whether and when doors are locked or supervised; it does not require doors to stay locked.
Every fact checked against the official source by an independent reviewer · Last verified October 26, 2026
What does the Georgia law require?
Every public school must prepare a school safety plan. The plan must include specific plans to restrict entry to and exit from all buildings and facilities on school property. It must include specific plans for whether and when certain doors will be locked or actively supervised by school staff, or both. That plan must cover exterior doors and other access points of all buildings, and doors to all classrooms and other instructional spaces. The plan can choose locking, active supervision by staff, or both. It does not require doors to stay locked. The plan must also cover evaluating and refining school security measures.
When did it take effect, and what is the deadline?
HB 268, which added the entry and door-locking items, took effect when the Governor approved it. The state emergency management agency (GEMA/HS) says HB 268 was signed into law in April 2025. Each public school must get school mapping data no later than July 1, 2026. The mapping data must label access points inside each building, and the locations of critical utilities, key boxes and automated external defibrillators (AEDs).
What does the state recommend for visitors?
GEMA/HS guidance recommends visitor access control and cutting outside-accessible doors down to one designated entrance. It recommends procedures for a visitor ID name tag system. It recommends visit policies covering contractors, visiting speakers, vendors, parents, former students and staff family members. It recommends planning to keep exterior doors locked, with signs directing visitors to the main entrance. It says schools should not chain exterior doors, because they must stay usable as emergency exits.
How can schools pay for it?
The FY 2027 budget (HB 974) appropriates $116,021,568 for School Security Grants. The program funds grants to local school systems for school security needs and student mental health support; access control is not named. The budget also authorized $50,000,000 in 5-year general obligation bonds (state borrowing) for school safety equipment grants, but the Governor vetoed that authorization.
How can QuickSecure help?
Visitors sign themselves in at an iPad kiosk in your front office by scanning their driver's license or state ID.
Each visitor gets a printed badge, and checks out by scanning the badge's code on the way out.
Visitors are checked against the sex-offender registry and your school's own block list before they're let in.
When a visitor needs a second look, front-office staff get an alert and approve or deny entry from their phones.
Only guardians and contacts your school has authorized can pick up a student. A one-time exception needs an administrator's approval, and it's logged.
Every visit is kept in a log your administrators can search.
This is not a statement that any product satisfies Georgia's requirements; that reading belongs to your district and its counsel.