SB243: SB243 Back the Blue Fund; authorized use of money; revise

Georgia's Back the Blue Fund lets drivers voluntarily add a $5 contribution when registering their vehicles, with the money meant to help sheriffs' offices support certified peace officers. This bill rewrites the Code section that governs the fund (O.C.G.A. § 40-2-26.1). It expands the stated purpose of the fund from just bonus payments to also supporting training and retention of officers employed under a sheriff, while keeping a rule that the money can only fund bonus payments and cannot be used to supplement a sheriff's own salary or replace county funding for the sheriff's office. The bill also changes how money moves: instead of being distributed straight to sheriffs, the state revenue commissioner would send the funds to the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, which would then split the money equally among each county's sheriff. It adds a statement of legislative intent encouraging counties to redirect freed-up training dollars toward officer salary increases, and sets the fund to automatically expire on July 1, 2029.

• Broadens the stated purpose of the Back the Blue Fund to cover supporting training and retention of certified peace officers, in addition to bonus payments.
• Routes the fund's annual distribution through the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and the Georgia Sheriffs' Association before money reaches individual county sheriffs, instead of going straight to sheriffs.
• Adds legislative intent language encouraging counties to use training money freed up by the fund to raise certified peace officers' salaries.
• Confirms each sheriff has sole discretion over how bonus payments are allocated among officers under their command.
• Sets the Back the Blue Fund and its governing law to automatically expire (sunset) on July 1, 2029.
• Keeps the rule that fund money cannot be used to supplement a sheriff's own salary or replace county funding for the sheriff's office.

County sheriffs and the certified peace officers who work under them across Georgia, county governing authorities that fund sheriffs' offices, the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, and the state revenue commissioner's office, which administers the fund and vehicle registration forms.

How the fund's money flows and what it can pay for affects whether sheriffs' offices can use the voluntary contributions for officer bonuses, training, or retention efforts, and whether county officials feel encouraged to raise deputy pay with any training money the fund frees up.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 40-2-26.1, expanding the fund's purpose to supporting training and retention of certified peace officers employed under a sheriff, not just bonus payments.
• Subsection (g) changes the distribution path so the state revenue commissioner sends money to the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and Georgia Sheriffs' Association, which split it equally among each county's sheriff, with up to 1 percent retained for administrative costs.
• Subsection (h) restricts fund money to bonus payments for certified peace officers under a sheriff, distributed equitably, and bars using it to supplement a sheriff's salary or replace county funding.
• Subsection (i) adds legislative intent that county training money freed up by fund use be redirected toward raising certified peace officers' salaries, and confirms sheriffs have sole discretion over bonus allocation.
• Subsection (k) sets the entire Code section to repeal automatically on July 1, 2029.
• Section 2 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
2. 2025-03-04Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
3. 2025-03-03Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
4. 2025-02-26Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
5. 2025-02-24Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Larry Walker (R, SD-020)Primary sponsor
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)
• Bill Cowsert (R, SD-046)
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
• Mike Hodges (R, SD-003)
• Marty Harbin (R, SD-016)
• Brian Strickland (R, SD-042)
• Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)

• law enforcement funding
• sheriffs
• vehicle registration fees
• police pay and retention