Georgia CommonsHouse · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 1021: Courts; increase amount of funds the authority is authorized to retain for administrative costs
Last action February 20, 2026 · House Committee Favorably Reported
House Bill 1021 would raise the annual cap on administrative funds that the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority can keep from court fee collections, from $500,000 to $1 million per fiscal year.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 15-21A-5) lets a state authority that collects certain court fines and fees keep a small share of that money each year to cover its own administrative costs, with the rest sent on to the state's general fund and to programs like the Georgia Crime Victims Emergency Fund and the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund. Currently the authority can keep 1 percent of the funds it collects, but no more than $500,000 in a fiscal year, for those administrative costs. This bill would raise that dollar cap to $1 million per fiscal year, while keeping the 1 percent limit and all the other distribution rules the same. The bill does not change how the remaining, non-administrative money is divided among the state treasury and the various trust funds and victim programs.
What the bill does
- Raises the yearly cap on administrative funds the authority may retain from $500,000 to $1 million, while keeping the existing 1 percent limit in place.
- Leaves unchanged the rule that net proceeds after administrative costs go to the state general fund, the Georgia Crime Victims Emergency Fund, the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund, and local victim assistance programs.
- Repeals any existing laws that conflict with the new cap.
Who it affects
The Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority, which administers collection of certain court fees and fines, and the state programs that rely on the money it passes through, including the state general fund, the Georgia Crime Victims Emergency Fund, the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund, and local victim assistance programs.
Why it matters
A higher cap means the authority could keep more money each year to cover its own operating costs before sending the rest along. That could mean somewhat less money flowing to the general fund and victim and injury trust funds if the authority's administrative costs actually rise to use the new cap.
Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 15-21A-5(a) to change the administrative cost cap from $500,000 to $1 million per fiscal year.
- Section 1 keeps the existing rule that the authority may retain no more than 1 percent of funds received under Code Sections 15-21A-3 and 15-21A-6.
- Section 1 leaves unchanged the distribution of remaining net proceeds among the general fund, the Crime Victims Emergency Fund, the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund, and local victim assistance under Code Section 15-21-132.
- Section 2 repeals any laws in conflict with the Act.
Discussed in meetings (6)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House Judiciary Committee, February 19, 2026
From 3:21:53 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1021 would raise the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority’s administrative retention cap from $500,000 to $1 million. The sponsor said the cap had remained unchanged since 2004 while technology, training and other responsibilities grew, and that the authority distributed about $95 million annually among 13 organizations. Asked where the additional money would come from, the authority’s executive director said it would be retained from designated court collections before distribution, rather than supplied through a separate payment. The director said expenses had exceeded the current cap since 2024, and the sponsor said the authority would retain only what its expenses justified. In response to another member, the director distinguished these collections from real estate recording fees and payment-processing charges, describing the authority as a central collection point for 1,100 courts. The committee approved the bill by voice vote, with no opposition heard.
House Rules Committee, February 23, 2026
From 1:09:19 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1021 would raise the Georgia Clerks' Authority's annual administrative reimbursement limit from $500,000 to $1 million. The sponsor said the existing limit dated to 2004 and that the authority distributed more than $92 million annually in court fines and fees to 13 groups. The sponsor cited staffing, technology and administrative costs, emphasizing that reimbursement would cover actual spending rather than automatically provide $1 million. A committee member repeatedly asked how the authority currently paid its costs and where the additional money or offsetting savings would come from. The sponsor reiterated that the bill would raise the reimbursement ceiling, but the discussion did not resolve the member's funding concern.
House Rules Committee, April 2, 2026
From 0:23:53 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: While presenting the substitute for SB 51, the presenter explained that its first section incorporated this bill. The presenter said the provision would increase the money clerks may retain to cover expenses for collecting and distributing fees. The committee did not take a separate vote on this bill.
Status timeline
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Lauren McDonald III (R, HD-26)
- Rob Leverett (R, HD-123)
- Joseph Gullett (R, HD-19)
- Mary Margaret Oliver (D, HD-84)
- Stacey Evans (D, HD-57)
- Matt Reeves (R, HD-99)
Topics
- court fees
- state budget
- victim assistance funding
- courts administration