HB 1435: Mount Airy, Town of; Municipal Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee

This bill gives the Municipal Court of the Town of Mount Airy authority it did not previously have: to charge a technology fee on top of fines paid for criminal and quasi-criminal cases. The court's judge sets the exact fee amount, but the bill caps it at $10.00 per fine. The money collected can only be spent on specific technology needs, such as buying, leasing, maintaining, or installing computer hardware and software, and equipment used for imaging, scanning, faxing, communications, projecting, or printing. The funds must be kept in a separate account managed by the town's chief financial officer and the court clerk, spent only with approval from the town manager, and can be used to repay the town's information technology department for services it provides to the court. The bill repeals any conflicting laws.

• Authorizes the Municipal Court of the Town of Mount Airy to charge a technology fee, capped at $10.00, added to criminal and quasi-criminal fines.
• Lets the court's judge set the exact fee amount by order, up to that $10.00 limit.
• Restricts fee spending to specific technology purchases, leases, maintenance, and installation, such as computers, scanners, fax machines, and printers.
• Requires the collected funds to be kept in a separate account managed by the town's chief financial officer and the court clerk.
• Allows the funds to reimburse the town's information technology department for work it does for the court.
• Repeals any existing laws that conflict with this new fee authority.

People who pay criminal or quasi-criminal fines in the Municipal Court of the Town of Mount Airy, the court's judge and clerk, the town's chief financial officer and town manager, and the town's information technology department.

Anyone fined in Mount Airy's municipal court could pay up to $10 more per fine, money that would go toward the court's technology rather than general town funds. The change gives the small town court a dedicated way to fund equipment upgrades without new town-wide taxes.

• Section 1(a) authorizes the court clerk to charge and collect a technology fee as a surcharge on criminal and quasi-criminal fines, capped at $10.00 and set by judicial order.
• Section 1(a) limits fee use to two categories: computer hardware and software, and imaging, scanning, fax, communications, projection, and printing equipment.
• Section 1(b) requires the funds to be kept in a segregated account separate from other town funds, managed by the chief financial officer and court clerk.
• Section 1(b) requires town manager approval before the funds are spent and allows reimbursement to the town's IT department for services to the court.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-05-11Effective Date 2026-05-11
2. 2026-05-11Act 563
3. 2026-05-11House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-03-12Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2026-03-12Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
7. 2026-03-06Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2026-03-04House Passed/Adopted (House)

• Victor Anderson (R, HD-010)Primary sponsor
• Chris Erwin (R, HD-032)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2026

   166 yea, 1 nay (9 not voting, 1 absent)

   Local Calendar : House Vote #600

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 12, 2026

   43 yea, 0 nay (7 not voting, 5 absent)

   Local Consent Calendar: Senate Vote #706

• municipal court fees
• Mount Airy Georgia
• court technology funding
• local government law