Monday, February 27 th , we returned to Capitol Hill for week eight of the legislative session, which ended Friday with Crossover Day. Any legislation that did not pass out of its respective chamber by Friday’s deadline, will not have time to make it through the process and therefore will not be reconsidered until next session. We passed numerous bills this week in hopes that we can continue positive reform efforts and progress in Georgia.

Murray County Chief Magistrate Judge L. Gale Buckner and Hiram Police Chief Todd A. Vande Zande were seated as members of the Highland Rivers Health governing board at its most recent meeting in February. Buckner and Vande Zande will serve three-year terms as representatives of Murray and Paulding counties, respectively.

“Our troops and their families have endured more than a decade and a half of war, including ongoing efforts to defeat the Islamic State,” said Rep. Graves. “Simply put, they deserve a pay raise. I hope it helps provide financial security for the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.”

Sheriff Gary Gulledge stated, “I credit the quick arrest of these vandals to our dedicated Deputies and Detectives. I also want to commend our citizens for being vigilant and sharing home surveillance footage with Detectives. Without the home surveillance footage and the Deputies and Detectives relentless desire to solve these crimes, we would not have made an arrest so quickly in this case.”

Paulding County was hit with multiple entering auto incidents. This crime spree took place in the Seven Hills Subdivision and the Park at Cedarcrest Subdivision.

PCFD is proud to announce ten young men & women successfully completed PCFD’s 18-week training program, where they all passed the rigorous State of Georgia Firefighters Standards & Training Council certification testing.

The bill makes changes to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) to allow the use of limited defensive measures that exceed the boundaries of one’s network in an attempt to identify and stop attackers. Once a cybercriminal is identified, the victim can share that information with law enforcement or try to disrupt an ongoing attack.

Greetings from the Gold Dome! I am humbled to say that a number of measures I have been directly involved with are slowly but surely making it through our tough legislative process. The past couple of weeks has been like running a half-marathon, as we try to make sure our bills pass before the Crossover Day Deadline.

Saturday, April 29th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Hiram Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its 13th opportunity in seven years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

Dallas Police Department was dispatched to the Rambo Trailhead of the Silver Comet Trail regarding shots fired and a man observed with a rifle. The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office also responded.