Local law enforcement authorities will have new powers to place wiretaps across county lines under a measure that Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law on Wednesday.

House Bill 55 updates the state’s surveillance law after a recent Georgia Supreme Court ruling restricted how wiretaps could be used. It requires a Superior Court judge to approve the wiretaps.

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Mathew Palmer, a former Delta Air Lines employee, at his home in Atlanta on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025.  Palmer was fired less than two weeks after writing a post on social media about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (Natrice Miller/AJC)