HB244: HB244 State auditor; local governments to request and receive in certain circumstances due date extensions related to filing annual audits; provide

Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 36-81-7) requires local governments above certain size or spending levels to have annual financial audits, with lighter options for smaller governments. This bill raises those dollar thresholds substantially: governments with $2.5 million or more in expenditures (up from $550,000) or a population over 1,500 must get a full annual audit. Governments with $2.5 million or less in expenditures may instead report every two years using a new special purpose accounting framework the state auditor will design, and governments with $1 million or less (up from $550,000) can use a simplified 'agreed upon procedures' report instead of a full audit. The bill also addresses what happens when elected county officers, such as those named in the Georgia Constitution, refuse to cooperate with audit preparation. It requires those officers to cooperate and provide documentation, protects the county from liability for an officer's noncooperation, lets the state auditor grant extra waiver time in those cases, and requires the county to withhold half of a noncooperating officer's pay until the audit is filed, repaying it once completed.

• Raises the expenditure threshold requiring a full annual audit from $550,000 to $2.5 million and keeps the 1,500-population trigger.
• Allows local governments with $2.5 million or less in expenditures to file biennial reports using a new special purpose accounting framework set by the state auditor instead of annual audits.
• Raises the threshold for using a simplified 'agreed upon procedures' report instead of a full audit from $550,000 to $1 million in expenditures.
• Requires county officers and assigned state employees to cooperate with county audit preparation and shields counties from liability when those officers do not.
• Requires counties to withhold 50 percent of a noncooperating officer's pay until the audit is filed, then repay it without interest once the audit is complete.
• Gives the state auditor authority to grant additional waiver time when audit delays result from an officer's failure to cooperate.

Georgia county and municipal governments and their finance staff, the state auditor's office, county constitutional officers such as sheriffs and clerks who must cooperate with audits, and members of the General Assembly who receive notices about overdue local audits.

More small and mid-sized local governments would qualify for lighter-touch biennial or simplified audit options instead of full annual audits, potentially reducing their compliance costs, while county officers who refuse to cooperate with audit preparers could see half their pay withheld until the required audit gets filed.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 36-81-7(a)(1) to set the full annual audit threshold at $2.5 million in expenditures or a population over 1,500.
• Subsection (a)(2) creates a biennial reporting option using a special purpose framework for governments at or under $2.5 million in expenditures, with templates and an effective date set by the state auditor.
• Subsection (a)(3) raises the agreed upon procedures threshold to $1 million or less in expenditures and limits its use to four consecutive years before an audit under generally accepted standards is required at least every fifth year.
• New subsection (d.1) obligates county officers and assigned state employees to cooperate with audit preparation and provides that their noncooperation does not create liability for the county government.
• Subsection (d.1)(2) lets the state auditor grant 90-day waivers in cases where noncooperation by an officer caused the delay, on top of existing 180-day waivers.
• Subsection (d.1)(3) requires counties to temporarily withhold 50 percent of a noncooperating constitutional officer's pay until the audit is filed, then repay it within 14 days without interest.
• Section 2 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-05-11Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-11Act 437
3. 2026-05-11House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-03-16House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
6. 2026-03-10Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2026-03-10Senate Third Read (Senate)
8. 2026-02-02Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)

• Charles Cannon (R, HD-172)Primary sponsor
• Bill Yearta (R, HD-152)
• Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
• Mack Jackson (D, HD-128)
• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)
• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2025

   162 yea, 7 nay (8 not voting, 3 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #150

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 10, 2026

   48 yea, 2 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #702

3. PassedHouse voteMarch 16, 2026

   151 yea, 4 nay (5 not voting, 16 absent)

   Agree To Senate Substitute: House Vote #706

• local government audits
• county finances
• state auditor
• government accountability
• municipal budgets