On July 1, approximately 116 new Georgia laws were put into effect ranging from new regulations on home beer-brewing, to relaxed sentencing for juveniles who commit nonviolent acts, to new limits on worker’s compensation.

One of the new laws includes new regulations on the HOPE scholarship. Under the legislation, students at technical colleges can qualify for the grant if they have a 2.0 grade-point average or higher, as opposed to the previous 3.0 requirement.

Stricter punishment for DUI is included in one of the new laws, lengthening the time period that repeat offenders must use an ignition interlock system to start their cars.

This system allows DUI offenders to keep their driver’s licenses if they drive vehicles that can only be started if the driver passes a breathalyzer test each time.

Previously, the time period was 8 months, but it was extended to 12 months.

Another law that was implemented requires private and public employers with 10 or more employees to verify the citizenship of their employees.

Some of these laws went into effect July 1 as the new fiscal year began.

Some new laws were put into effect earlier this spring, and others won’t go into effect until January 2014 or July 2014.