---
title: HB 1096. Public Health, Department of; provide that if certain employees of a county board of health become employees of such department such employees will retain accrued annual and sick leave
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1096
cite_as: HB 1096, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1096
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1096.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1096/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72612
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/hb1095.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1097.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 977
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1096.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1096
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-05-11
last_action: Effective Date 2026-07-01
sponsors:
- Darlene Taylor
- James Hatchett
- Dexter Sharper
- Angie O'Steen
- Sharon Cooper
- Chuck Hufstetler
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1096/2025
upstream_id: 2102340
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- public health employees
- state employee benefits
- sick and annual leave
- county boards of health
- government personnel rules
---
# HB 1096. Public Health, Department of; provide that if certain employees of a county board of health become employees of such department such employees will retain accrued annual and sick leave
## Text
House Bill 1096 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By: Representatives Taylor of the 173rd, Hatchett of the 155th, Sharper of the 177th, O’Steen
of the 169th, and Cooper of the 45th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 1 of Chapter 2A of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to general provisions relative to the Department of Public Health, so as to provide
that if certain employees of a county board of health become employees of such department
such employees will retain accrued annual and sick leave; to provide that such employees
shall retain seniority for purposes of graduated leave accrual; to authorize rules and
regulations; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 1 of Chapter 2A of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
general provisions relative to the Department of Public Health, is amended by adding a new
Code section to read as follows:
"31-2A-3.1.
(a) Any employee of a county board of health who is a member of the retirement system
provided for in Chapter 2 of Title 47, who is considered a state employee only for the
purpose of membership in such retirement system, and who becomes an employee of the
department, with no break between such positions of employment, shall retain accrued
annual and sick leave possessed by such employee and shall retain seniority for purposes
of graduated leave accrual. No employee shall be paid accrued leave by the county board
of health when transitioning to state employment.
(b) The State Personnel Board is authorized to promulgate, amend, or repeal rules and
regulations for the implementation of this Code section."
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.
A Georgia House bill lets county board of health employees keep their accumulated vacation and sick leave, and their seniority, when they move over to become employees of the state Department of Public Health.
### Plain-language summary
Some public health workers in Georgia counties are technically state employees only for retirement purposes, but otherwise work for their local county board of health. This bill addresses what happens to their accrued leave when they formally transition to being employees of the state Department of Public Health with no gap in employment.
The bill adds a new section to Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-3.1) stating that these employees keep their built-up annual (vacation) and sick leave, and keep their seniority for purposes of how quickly they earn future leave. The county board of health is barred from paying out that accrued leave in cash when the employee switches to the state. The State Personnel Board is authorized to write rules to carry this out. The bill repeals any conflicting laws.
### What it does
- Adds a new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-3.1) letting county board of health employees keep accrued annual and sick leave when they become Department of Public Health employees without a break in service.
- Preserves those employees' seniority so their future leave continues to accrue at the same graduated rate instead of resetting.
- Prohibits the county board of health from cashing out an employee's accrued leave when that employee transitions to state employment.
- Authorizes the State Personnel Board to create, change, or eliminate rules to put this leave-transfer process into practice.
### Who it affects
County board of health employees in Georgia who belong to the state retirement system covering certain public health workers, especially those who move into direct Department of Public Health employment. It also affects the county boards of health and the State Personnel Board, which gains new rulemaking authority.
### Why it matters
Public health employees who switch from county to state employment would no longer lose their banked vacation and sick time or start over on seniority, which affects how quickly they build future leave and their pay if leave were otherwise cashed out.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 creates new Code section 31-2A-3.1, applying to county board of health employees who are members of the retirement system under Chapter 2 of Title 47 and who become department employees with no break in service.
- Subsection (a) guarantees these employees retain accrued annual and sick leave and their seniority for graduated leave accrual, and bars the county board from paying out leave in cash upon transition.
- Subsection (b) authorizes the State Personnel Board to promulgate, amend, or repeal rules to implement the leave-retention process.
- Section 2 repeals any laws that conflict with the new provisions.
## Status
- Status: Passed (2026-05-11)
- Last action: Effective Date 2026-07-01 (2026-05-11)
- Sponsors: Darlene Taylor, James Hatchett, Dexter Sharper, Angie O'Steen, Sharon Cooper, Chuck Hufstetler
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72612
> The history, votes, and amendments (977 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1096.md?full=1