Georgia House Passes 'Back the Badge' License Plate Bill

ATLANTA, GA -- Vehicles with license plates that say "Back the Badge" are one step closer to appearing on Georgia's roadways after the state House of Representatives passed the bill Thursday 165-1, Patch has learned.

Senate Bill 169, which has received tremendous support from state legislators as well as Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, seeks to "to establish a specialty license plate honoring law enforcement," according to the bill's language.

The license plates, which figures to supplant the popular Peach insignia seen on the back of many state vehicles, is intended to honor Georgia's public safety officers.

Nine Georgia officers were killed in the line of duty last year, but the deaths of two of them -- Jody Smith and Nicholas Smarr, who were gunned down in December after responding to a report about domestic violence in Americus, helped spur legislation.

Sumter County farmer Aaron Cosby came up with the idea to honor fallen officers with a license plate after he couldn't find a satisfactory way to commemorate and thank Smith and Smarr for their service.

"You can get a tag for just about anything from agriculture [...] to spay and neuter tags, but there's nothing to support law enforcement," Cosby told WAGA-TV.

Cosby reached out to Sen. Greg Kirk, an Americus Repubican, who filed the legislation.

“The men and women who serve our state as law enforcement officers are true patriots who answer the call regardless of the time of day because they believe in protecting the public,” Kirk said in a statement last month. “With the passage of the Back the Badge initiatives, we are letting Georgia’s law enforcement community know we have their backs by enacting stricter sentencing and tougher punishments for individuals who are convicted of assault against police officers. We can never thank them enough for all they do, but I believe this is a step in the right direction to show our support.”

SB 169 stipulates that proceeds from the purchase of the "Back the Badge" plate be directed to the Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund.

Several bills supporting Georgia law enforcement are being considered by state legislators, including Senate Bill 155, which would review the salaries and benefits of public safety officers and Senate Bill 154, which would increase the amount of money given to families of fallen officers.

The "Back the Badge" bill now goes to Gov. Nathan Deal to sign.

Image via Pixabay