---
title: HB 1435. Mount Airy, Town of; Municipal Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1435
cite_as: HB 1435, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1435
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1435.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1435/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73547
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.
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previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1434.md
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 886
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1435.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1435
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:
  - Victor Anderson
  - Chris Erwin
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1435/2025
upstream_id: 2123573
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - municipal court fees
  - Mount Airy Georgia
  - court technology funding
  - local government law
---

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

## Text

House Bill 1435 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By: Representatives Anderson of the 10th and Erwin of the 32nd
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To authorize the assessment and collection of a technology fee by the Municipal Court of the
Town of Mount Airy; to identify the authorized uses of such fee; 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 Municipal Court of the Town of Mount Airy is authorized to charge and
collect a technology fee as a surcharge to each criminal and quasi-criminal fine paid to the
court. The technology fee shall be set by order of the judge of the court, provided that the
fee shall not exceed $10.00. Such fee shall be used exclusively to provide for the following
technological needs of the court. Such uses shall include only the following:
(1) The purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of computer hardware and
software; and
(2) The purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of equipment and software used
for imaging, scanning, facsimile, communications, projections, and printing.
(b) Funds collected pursuant to this section shall be maintained in a segregated account by
the chief financial officer of the town and the clerk of court, separate from other funds of the
town, and shall be expended only for purposes authorized in this section upon direction of
the town manager. The funds may be used to reimburse the town's information technology
department for services provided to the court.
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 1435 lets the Municipal Court of the Town of Mount Airy add a technology fee, up to $10, onto criminal and quasi-criminal fines to pay for court computer and communications equipment.

### Plain-language summary

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.

### What it does

- 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.

### Who it affects

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.

### Why it matters

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.

### Key provisions

- 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.

## Status

- Status: Passed (2026-05-11)
- Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 (2026-05-11)
- Sponsors: Victor Anderson, Chris Erwin
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73547

> The history, votes, and amendments (886 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1435.md?full=1