Georgia CommonsHB 1155: Tift County; board of commissioners; revise purchasing provisions
Last action May 11, 2026 · Effective Date 2026-05-11
A local Georgia House bill would rewrite the purchasing and bidding rules for the Tift County board of commissioners, letting the board set its own purchasing policy instead of following older detailed procedures written into county law.
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 LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Tift County's government operates under a special local Act from 1917 that the General Assembly has amended many times, most notably in 1985. That law includes specific sections spelling out how the county board of commissioners must handle purchasing and competitive bidding. This bill removes one of those sections (Section 10A) entirely and rewrites Section 10. Under the new language, the board of commissioners remains the county's purchasing agent responsible for buying goods and services for county use, but instead of following the old statutory procedures, purchasing and bidding will now be governed by a purchasing and bidding policy that the board itself adopts. The bill also repeals any conflicting laws, which is standard language clearing the way for the new provision to take effect.
What the bill does
- Deletes Section 10A of Tift County's local governing Act, removing whatever specific purchasing rule it previously contained.
- Rewrites Section 10 so the county board of commissioners continues to serve as the county's purchasing agent for all county purchases.
- Shifts control over detailed purchasing and bidding procedures from the text of the law itself to a policy the board of commissioners adopts on its own.
- Repeals any other state or local laws that conflict with this change.
Who it affects
Tift County's board of commissioners, county government staff who handle procurement, and vendors or contractors who do business with Tift County by bidding on county purchases and contracts.
Why it matters
By moving purchasing rules out of the statute and into a board-adopted policy, Tift County commissioners gain more flexibility to change how they buy goods and services without needing the General Assembly to amend the law each time, though this also removes previously fixed statutory bidding requirements.
Key provisions
- Section 1 strikes Section 10A of the 1917 Act (as amended in 1985) entirely, eliminating that separate purchasing provision.
- Section 1 also revises Section 10 to name the board of commissioners as Tift County's purchasing agent for all county purchases.
- Section 1 requires that purchasing and bidding be conducted according to a purchasing and bidding policy adopted by the board rather than fixed statutory steps.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard clause ensuring the new provision controls over inconsistent prior law.
From the bill
“The board of commissioners shall be the purchasing agent of Tift County and shall purchase any and all things for the use of the county.”
“Purchasing and bidding procedures shall be done in accordance with a purchasing and bidding policy adopted by the board.”
Status timeline
- Effective Date 2026-05-11
- Act 542
- 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
- Jaclyn Ford (R, HD-170)
- Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)
Votes
- House voteFebruary 12, 2026
156 yea, 0 nay (11 not voting, 8 absent)
- Senate voteFebruary 24, 2026
53 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 1 absent)
Topics
- Tift County government
- local legislation
- county purchasing rules
- government procurement