SB215: SB215 State Bar of Georgia; responsibilities of the administrative arm of the Supreme Court relative to the practice of law in this state; provide

Georgia lawyers currently must be members of the State Bar of Georgia, a unified self-governing association, as a condition of practicing law in the state. This bill rewrites the law that created that structure. Instead of a membership-based bar, the Supreme Court of Georgia would run an administrative arm responsible for licensing rules, bar exams, admissions, ethics enforcement, continuing legal education, and stopping unauthorized practice of law. No attorney could be required to belong to any association, including the State Bar, as a condition of being or staying licensed. The bill keeps the existing option for a lawyer facing disbarment to request a jury trial in superior court, and keeps a process for the Supreme Court to hold public hearings on proposed practice rules. It repeals the section governing how bar rules get amended. The General Assembly cites the U.S. Supreme Court's Janus v. AFSCME decision on forced association and compelled speech as its reasoning. The changes would take effect July 1, 2026.

• Repeals the law establishing the State Bar of Georgia as a mandatory, unified self-governing association of all licensed attorneys.
• Reassigns the bar's former duties (licensing rules, bar exams, admissions, ethics enforcement, continuing legal education, unauthorized practice enforcement) to an administrative arm of the Supreme Court.
• Bars the state from requiring any attorney to join any association, including the State Bar of Georgia, as a condition of getting or keeping a law license.
• Keeps the existing right of an attorney facing a final disciplinary order or disbarment to request a jury trial in the superior court of their home county.
• Repeals the code section that governs how the bar's rules and regulations get amended.
• Sets an effective date of July 1, 2026 for all these changes.

The bill affects every individual licensed to practice law in Georgia, the State Bar of Georgia itself, the Supreme Court of Georgia (which would take on direct administrative responsibility), and applicants seeking to become licensed attorneys in the state.

If enacted, Georgia attorneys would no longer be compelled to belong to or pay dues to the State Bar of Georgia to practice law, though licensing, discipline, and exam functions would continue under the Supreme Court's direct administrative control rather than a self-governing membership association.

• Section 1 states legislative findings citing Janus v. AFSCME and declares that lawyers should not be forced to fund a bar association's advocacy beyond core regulatory functions.
• Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 15-19-30 to replace the 'unified self-governing bar association' with an administrative arm of the Supreme Court handling licensing, exams, admissions, ethics, continuing legal education, and unauthorized practice enforcement.
• Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 15-19-31 to add that no individual may be required to be a member of any association, including the State Bar of Georgia, to be or remain licensed.
• Section 4 revises O.C.G.A. § 15-19-32 to preserve an attorney's right to elect a jury trial on factual issues before a final disbarment order.
• Section 5 revises O.C.G.A. § 15-19-33 to require proposed practice rules be furnished to all individuals licensed to practice law, not just bar members, before a public hearing.
• Section 6 repeals O.C.G.A. § 15-19-34 in its entirety, removing the existing process for amending bar rules.
• Section 7 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026.

1. 2025-02-20Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-19Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)Primary sponsor
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)

• State Bar of Georgia
• legal licensing
• attorney regulation
• forced association
• Supreme Court of Georgia