SB16: SB16 Public Officials; bail bond business; modify provisions

Georgia law already made it illegal for certain public officials, court officers, law enforcement officers, and attorneys to be involved in the bail bond business. This bill rewrites that law (O.C.G.A. § 45-11-8) to clarify and adjust who is covered. The bill splits the old rule into two parts. The first keeps the general ban on elected officials, court officers, law enforcement officers, and attorneys engaging in the bail bond business, but now says the term 'elected official' does not include people elected to a local school board or to the governing authority of a county, municipal corporation, or consolidated government. The second part adds a specific, separate ban on members of a county, city, or consolidated government's governing authority engaging in the bail bond business within the jurisdiction where they hold office. Violating either rule remains a misdemeanor. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.

• Rewrites O.C.G.A. § 45-11-8 to split the existing ban on public officials in the bail bond business into two separate paragraphs.
• Excludes local school board members and members of county, municipal, or consolidated government governing authorities from the general definition of 'elected official' covered by the first ban.
• Adds a new, separate rule making it illegal for a member of a county, city, or consolidated government governing authority to engage in the bail bond business within their own jurisdiction.
• Keeps the penalty for violating either provision as a misdemeanor.
• Sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it otherwise becomes law without a signature.

Elected officials, court officers, law enforcement officers, and attorneys in Georgia who might work in the bail bond industry, as well as members of county commissions, city councils, and consolidated government boards, and local school board members whose status under the law changes.

The change means local school board members and county or city governing board members are no longer covered by the general elected-official ban, but county and city board members instead face a narrower, location-specific ban tied to their own jurisdiction, changing exactly who can legally have a stake in bail bond businesses.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 45-11-8(a)(1) to exclude local school board members and county, municipal, or consolidated government board members from the definition of 'elected official' in the general ban.
• Section 1 adds new paragraph (a)(2), banning county, municipal corporation, or consolidated government board members from the bail bond business within the jurisdiction where they serve.
• Section 1 retains subsection (b), making violation of the Code section a misdemeanor.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as the date of the Governor's approval or the date the bill becomes law without approval.
• Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2025-02-25Effective Date 2025-02-25
2. 2025-02-25Act 1
3. 2025-02-25Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2025-02-24Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2025-02-21House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2025-02-21House Third Readers (House)
7. 2025-02-13House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2025-02-05House Second Readers (House)

• Matt Brass (R, SD-006)Primary sponsor
• David Huddleston (R, HD-072)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 3, 2025

   51 yea, 2 nay (2 not voting, 1 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #18

2. PassedHouse voteFebruary 21, 2025

   159 yea, 6 nay (4 not voting, 11 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #65

• public officials
• bail bonds
• local government ethics
• conflicts of interest