HB35: HB35 Courts; private attorney appointed to act as district attorney pro tempore; revise compensation

When a Georgia district attorney is absent, disqualified, or otherwise unable to serve, courts can appoint a private attorney to act as district attorney pro tempore (a temporary substitute). Current law ties that attorney's pay to the regular district attorney's salary. This bill changes the pay formula in Georgia's code on substitute district attorneys (O.C.G.A. § 15-18-5). Under the bill, the substitute attorney would be paid the lesser of $250 per hour for certified hours worked or 90 percent of the district attorney's monthly salary, not counting certain pay supplements. The Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of the State of Georgia would certify hours worked. The substitute attorney could also hire private counsel, paralegals, or legal clerks, paid up to $110 per hour, funded from the district attorney's office budget. Actual expenses would be reimbursed by the county, and both hourly rates would be adjusted yearly based on the Consumer Price Index. The change would take effect July 1, 2025.

• Sets a new pay formula for private attorneys serving as district attorney pro tempore: the lesser of $250 per hour worked or 90 percent of the regular district attorney's monthly salary.
• Requires the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of the State of Georgia to certify the number of hours the substitute attorney worked before payment.
• Allows the substitute attorney to hire private counsel, paralegals, or legal clerks and pay them up to $110 per hour, certified the same way.
• Directs that this compensation come from the state funds already appropriated for the district attorney's office operations.
• Requires the county where the substitute is acting to reimburse actual expenses at the same rate used for regular district attorneys.
• Requires both the $250 and $110 hourly rates to be adjusted annually based on the federal Consumer Price Index.

The bill affects private attorneys appointed to temporarily fill in as district attorney, their hired staff such as paralegals and legal clerks, the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of the State of Georgia, county governments responsible for reimbursing expenses, and the state-funded budgets of local district attorney offices.

The pay structure for stand-in district attorneys would shift from a flat salary match to an hourly, capped rate tied to certified hours and inflation. This could change how much substitute attorneys and their staff are paid and which government fund (state versus county) covers different costs.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 15-18-5(b) to set compensation at the lesser of $250 per certified hour or 90 percent of the district attorney's monthly salary, excluding certain supplements.
• Section 1 requires the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of the State of Georgia to certify hours worked before payment.
• Section 1 allows the substitute attorney to engage private counsel, paralegals, or legal clerks at up to $110 per certified hour, funded from the district attorney's office appropriation.
• Section 1 requires counties to reimburse actual expenses incurred by the substitute attorney or staff at the rate used for regular district attorneys under O.C.G.A. § 15-18-12.
• Section 1 requires annual adjustment of both hourly rates based on the Consumer Price Index published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.
• Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-18House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
3. 2025-03-06House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
4. 2025-01-16House Second Readers (House)
5. 2025-01-15House First Readers (House)
6. 2025-01-14House Hopper (House)

• Jordan Ridley (R, HD-022)Primary sponsor
• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)
• Mitchell Horner (R, HD-003)
• Steve Tarvin (R, HD-002)
• Jason Ridley (R, HD-006)
• Brad Thomas (R, HD-021)

• district attorneys
• court system funding
• prosecutor pay
• local government reimbursement