Wiretaps bill given final approval

The state Senate gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that would allow wiretaps across county lines.

House Bill 55 now goes to Gov. Nathan Deal and will become law if he signs it. It seeks to update the state’s surveillance law following a recent Georgia Supreme Court case ruling, which restricted how wiretaps could be used.

Right now, a wiretap warrant in one county is not recognized in another. But suspected illegal activity such as “drug trafficking does not occur within neat geographical boundaries,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rich Golick, R-Smyrna, the bill’s sponsor.