HB610: HB610 Local government; authorize acquisition of property interests by municipal elected and appointed officials and employees in redevelopment areas with certain conditions

Georgia's redevelopment law (O.C.G.A. § 36-44-21) already bars local elected officials, appointed officials, board and commission members, and employees of a redevelopment agency from voluntarily acquiring any personal stake in property or contracts tied to a redevelopment area. If someone acquires such an interest involuntarily, or already held one before a redevelopment plan was proposed, current law requires written disclosure to the local legislative body, entered into the meeting minutes. House Bill 610 rewrites this Code section. It keeps the ban on voluntarily acquiring an interest in redevelopment-area property or contracts, keeps the disclosure requirement for involuntary or pre-existing interests, keeps the rule that undisclosed or violating contracts can be voided by the local legislative body, and keeps failure to disclose as misconduct in office. The bill also carries forward the two-year lookback period for prior property interests and the requirement to disclose to the redevelopment agency itself. There is no separate effective date section, so it would take effect under Georgia's standard rules once signed.

• Revises O.C.G.A. § 36-44-21 to restate the rule barring elected officials, appointed officials, and employees of a political subdivision or redevelopment agency from voluntarily acquiring interests in redevelopment area property or contracts.
• Keeps in place a requirement that any involuntarily acquired interest be disclosed in writing to the local legislative body and recorded in its minutes.
• Preserves the two-year lookback rule requiring disclosure of any property interest an official held before a redevelopment plan was submitted, and bars that person from acting on matters affecting that property.
• Keeps the provision allowing the local legislative body to void any contract made in violation of the disclosure rules, with an exception for bonds or other financing obligations.
• Retains the rule that failing to comply with the disclosure requirement counts as misconduct in office.
• Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this section.

Municipal elected officials, appointed board and commission members, and employees who work for a city, county, or a local redevelopment agency and who own or might acquire property or contract interests inside a designated redevelopment area.

The bill governs how local officials must handle personal financial ties to property inside redevelopment zones, an area where conflicts of interest could otherwise let insiders profit from public redevelopment decisions. Continued disclosure and voidability rules affect how transparent local redevelopment dealings must be.

• Section 1 revises Code Section 36-44-21, which covers disqualification and disclosure rules for officials and employees with interests in redevelopment areas.
• Subsection (a) bars voluntary acquisition of property or contract interests in a redevelopment area by covered officials and employees and requires written disclosure of involuntary acquisitions to the local legislative body.
• Subsection (a) also requires disclosure of any interest acquired within two years before a redevelopment plan was submitted, and bars that person from participating in decisions affecting that property.
• Subsection (b) makes contracts entered into without required disclosure voidable by the local legislative body, except for bond or debt security arrangements.
• Subsection (c) states that failing to comply with the disclosure requirement is misconduct in office.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting Georgia laws.

1. 2025-02-27House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-26House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-24House Hopper (House)

• Teddy Reese (D, HD-140)Primary sponsor
• Carolyn Hugley (D, HD-141)
• Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)
• Debbie Buckner (D, HD-137)
• Vance Smith (R, HD-138)

• redevelopment law
• conflict of interest
• local government ethics
• municipal officials
• property disclosure