---
title: HB 1084. Madison County; Probate Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1084
cite_as: HB 1084, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1084
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1084.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1084/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72590
date: 2026-05-11
status: passed
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1083.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1085.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 886
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1084.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1084
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-05-11
last_action: Effective Date 2026-05-11
sponsors:
  - Rob Leverett
  - Alan Powell
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1084/2025
upstream_id: 2102353
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - Madison County
  - probate court
  - court fees
  - local legislation
  - court technology
---

# HB 1084. Madison County; Probate Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee

## Text

House Bill 1084 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By: Representatives Leverett of the 123rd and Powell of the 33rd
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To authorize the assessment and collection of a technology fee by the Probate Court of
Madison County; to identify the authorized uses of such technology fee; to provide for the
termination of such technology fee and dedication of residual funds; to provide for related
matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
(a) The clerk of the Probate Court of Madison County is hereby authorized to charge and
collect a technology fee to be set by the judge of the probate court in an amount not to
exceed $10.00 for the filing of each civil action with the court and not to exceed $10.00 as
a surcharge upon each fine assessed by the court. Such technology fees shall be used
exclusively to provide for technological needs of the Probate Court of Madison County.
Such uses shall include only the following:
(1) Computer hardware, software, and accessory purchases;
(2) Lease, maintenance, and installation of computer hardware;
(3) Purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of imaging, scanning, facsimile,
communications, projection, and printing equipment and software; and
(4) Procurement of services or equipment for the conversion of court records and
archives to digital content for public access.
(b) Funds collected pursuant to this section shall be maintained in a segregated account by
the clerk of the probate court and shall be used only for the purposes authorized in this
section.
(c) 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.
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.

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.

### Plain-language summary

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 it 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.

## Status

- Status: Passed (2026-05-11)
- Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 (2026-05-11)
- Sponsors: Rob Leverett, Alan Powell
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72590

> The history, votes, and amendments (886 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1084.md?full=1