Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 1037: Cobb County; State Court; change compensation of judges
Last action May 11, 2026 · Effective Date
House Bill 1037 would raise the pay of judges on the State Court of Cobb County, increasing both the chief judge's extra compensation and the base salary for Division 1 judges.
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 Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
This bill amends the 1964 Georgia law that created the State Court of Cobb County, a local court that handles certain civil and criminal cases in Cobb County. The bill changes two pay figures set in that original law. First, it raises the additional compensation paid to the chief judge of the State Court of Cobb County from $11,328.25 per year to $11,894.66 per year. Second, it raises the annual salary for judges of Division 1 of the State Court of Cobb County from $217,134.20 to $227,990.91. The bill also repeals any existing laws that conflict with these changes. It does not alter the court's jurisdiction, structure, or any other duties of its judges; it is limited to updating these two dollar amounts.
What the bill does
- Increases the chief judge of the State Court of Cobb County's additional annual compensation from $11,328.25 to $11,894.66.
- Increases the annual salary for judges of Division 1 of the State Court of Cobb County from $217,134.20 to $227,990.91.
- Repeals any prior state laws that conflict with these updated pay figures.
Who it affects
The bill directly affects the chief judge and the Division 1 judges of the State Court of Cobb County, whose pay it raises. It may also be of interest to Cobb County taxpayers and residents who interact with the state court system.
Why it matters
The change means Cobb County's state court judges would receive higher pay set directly by state law, adjusting compensation levels that had been fixed since an earlier amendment. It does not change how the court operates or who can serve as judge.
Key provisions
- Section 1 raises the chief judge's additional annual compensation from $11,328.25 to $11,894.66.
- Section 2 raises the annual salary of Division 1 judges from $217,134.20 to $227,990.91.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard clause ensuring the new pay figures take precedence.
From the bill
“The chief judge of the State Court of Cobb County shall receive as additional compensation $11,894.66 per annum.”
“The salary of the judges of Division 1 of the State Court of Cobb County shall be $227,990.91 per annum.”
Discussed in meetings (5)
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 floor session, February 6, 2026 (legislative day 14)
From 0:54:49 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 429
Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk read a committee recommendation to pass HB 1037 and later identified it as a Cobb County bill on the uncontested local calendar. There was no separate presentation or debate. The House passed it with the other local bills in a single vote of 165 to 0.
- Read aloud: House floor session, January 28, 2026 (legislative day 8), 0:34:08
- Read aloud: House floor session, January 29, 2026 (legislative day 9), 0:55:23
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 9, 2026 (legislative day 15), 0:25:48
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 17, 2026 (legislative day 19), 0:34:41
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 534
- House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- House Sent to Governor (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
Show full history (13 actions)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Terry Cummings (D, HD-39)
- Solomon Adesanya (D, HD-43)
- Don Parsons (R, HD-44)
- Lisa Campbell (D, HD-35)
- Devan Seabaugh (R, HD-34)
- Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-61)
Votes
- House voteFebruary 6, 2026
165 yea, 0 nay (7 not voting, 5 excused)
- Senate voteFebruary 17, 2026
48 yea, 1 nay (2 not voting, 3 excused)
Topics
- judicial pay
- Cobb County
- state courts
- local legislation