HB549: HB549 Peace officers; extend time frame for which reimbursement of total training expenses by a subsequent employer may be sought

Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 35-8-22), if a state, county, or municipal agency trains a peace officer and that officer takes a job with another agency within 15 months, the new agency must repay the full cost of training, including salary paid during training, to the agency that paid for it. House Bill 549 stretches that full-reimbursement window from 15 months to 36 months after the officer finishes required training. The bill also keeps a half-reimbursement rule for officers hired away between 15 and 24 months after training, and it adds a new list spelling out exactly what counts as reimbursable training expense: equipment and materials costs at the council-approved school, salary and housing, meal, and transportation costs during basic training, and up to 90 days of salary during a field training program. The bill repeals conflicting laws and does not name a separate effective date section.

• Extends the period during which a hiring agency must repay full training costs for a peace officer from 15 months to 36 months after training completion.
• Keeps in place a half-cost reimbursement rule for officers hired by another agency between 15 and 24 months after finishing training.
• Adds a specific list of what counts as reimbursable training expenses, including equipment costs, basic training salary and living costs, and up to 90 days of field training salary.
• Directs the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council to keep setting reimbursement standards based on actual training costs incurred by individual departments.

Peace officers who move between Georgia law enforcement agencies, the state, county, and municipal agencies that pay for officer training, and the hiring agencies that may owe reimbursement, including police departments and sheriff's offices across Georgia.

Agencies that train officers who later leave for another department would have a longer window, three years instead of 15 months, to seek reimbursement for training costs, which could affect hiring decisions and costs for departments recruiting officers away from other agencies.

• Section 1 revises subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 35-8-22 to change the full-reimbursement trigger from 15 months to 36 months after training completion.
• Section 1 retains the rule that officers hired away between 15 and 24 months after training trigger a half-cost reimbursement obligation.
• Section 1 adds new paragraph (2) limiting reimbursable expenses to equipment and materials costs, basic training salary and living costs under Code Section 35-8-9, and up to 90 days of field training salary.
• Section 2 repeals all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the Act.

1. 2026-05-06Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-06Act 422
3. 2026-05-06House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-03-27Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2026-03-27Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2026-03-27Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
8. 2026-03-27Senate Tabled (Senate)

• Devan Seabaugh (R, HD-034)Primary sponsor
• Lauren McDonald (R, HD-026)
• Derrick McCollum (R, HD-030)
• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-012)
• Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
• Brian Prince (D, HD-132)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2025

   164 yea, 0 nay (12 not voting, 4 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #202

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2026

   26 yea, 22 nay (3 not voting, 3 absent)

   Motion To Table Remaining Legislation On The Rules Calendar: Senate Vote #835

3. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2026

   47 yea, 2 nay (0 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #853

• peace officer training
• law enforcement hiring
• police departments
• public safety funding