Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 1084: Madison County; Probate Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee
Last action May 11, 2026 · Effective Date
House Bill 1084 would let the Probate Court of Madison County charge a technology fee of up to $10 on civil filings and up to $10 as a surcharge on fines, with the money set aside for court technology.
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 applies only to Madison County. It authorizes the clerk of the Probate Court of Madison County to charge and collect a technology fee, set by the probate judge, of up to $10.00 for each civil action filed with the court and up to $10.00 as a surcharge on each fine the court assesses. The money can only be spent on specific technology needs: buying or leasing computer hardware and software, maintaining and installing computer equipment, buying or leasing imaging, scanning, fax, communications, projection, and printing equipment, and converting court records to digital form for public access. The funds must be kept in a separate account by the clerk. The authority to collect this fee ends on July 1, 2031, and any money left over at that point stays dedicated to general Madison County technology purposes.
What the bill does
- Authorizes the Madison County Probate Court clerk to charge a technology fee of up to $10 per civil case filed with the court.
- Authorizes an additional surcharge of up to $10 on each fine assessed by the court, also capped at $10.
- Restricts use of the collected fees to specific technology purchases, leases, maintenance, and digitizing court records.
- Requires the fees to be kept in a separate, segregated account used only for these authorized purposes.
- Sets the fee authority to expire on July 1, 2031, with leftover money staying dedicated to general Madison County technology uses.
Who it affects
People who file civil cases in the Madison County Probate Court, people who are fined by that court, the probate court clerk who collects and manages the fee, and the probate judge who sets the fee amount.
Why it matters
Anyone filing a civil case or paying a fine through Madison County's probate court could pay up to $20 more between the filing fee and fine surcharge, money the court says would go toward computers, digital records, and other technology upgrades rather than the county's general fund.
Key provisions
- Section 1(a) caps the technology fee at $10.00 per civil filing and $10.00 per fine surcharge, with the exact amount set by the probate judge.
- Section 1(a) lists four allowed uses: computer hardware and software, equipment maintenance and installation, imaging and communications equipment, and digitizing court records.
- Section 1(b) requires the fees to be kept in a segregated account used only for these authorized purposes.
- Section 1(c) ends the fee authority on July 1, 2031, and directs any leftover funds toward general Madison County technology uses.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“Such technology fees shall be used exclusively to provide for technological needs of the Probate Court of Madison County.”
“The authority to assess the technology fee pursuant to this Act shall terminate on July 1, 2031, and any residual funds remaining in the account established by subsection (b) of this section shall remain dedicated to general Madison County technology uses.”
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 17, 2026 (legislative day 19)
From 1:01:26 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 611
Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk read a committee recommendation to pass HB 1084. The House then included it in the uncontested local calendar and passed the calendar as a group, 165 to 1. No individual presentation or debate was recorded.
- Read aloud: House floor session, February 2, 2026 (legislative day 10), 0:38:58
- Read aloud: House floor session, February 3, 2026 (legislative day 11), 0:36:10
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 18, 2026 (legislative day 20), 0:28:54
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 26, 2026 (legislative day 25), 0:28:14
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 538
- 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
- Rob Leverett (R, HD-123)
- Alan Powell (R, HD-33)
Votes
- House voteFebruary 17, 2026
165 yea, 1 nay (7 not voting, 4 excused)
- Senate voteFebruary 26, 2026
48 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 2 excused)
Topics
- Madison County
- probate court
- court fees
- local legislation
- court technology