Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 1452: Mableton, City of; Municipal Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee
Last action May 12, 2026 · Effective Date
A Georgia House bill would let the Municipal Court of the City of Mableton charge up to a $10 technology fee on criminal and quasi-criminal fines, with the money earmarked for court and police technology.
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 the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
This bill gives the Municipal Court of the City of Mableton new authority to add a technology fee, set by the judge but capped at $10, on top of criminal and quasi-criminal fines people pay to the court. The money cannot go into the city's general fund for any purpose; it must be spent only on technology needs for the municipal court and the Mableton Police Department. The bill lists what the fee can pay for: computer hardware and software, imaging and communications equipment like scanners and fax machines, and police technology such as body cameras, dashboard and vehicle-mounted cameras, drones, and the city's 9-1-1 emergency dispatch system. Collected funds must be kept in a separate account managed by the court clerk and the city's chief financial officer and are subject to audit. The funds can also reimburse the city's information technology department for work it does for the court or police.
What the bill does
- Authorizes the Municipal Court of the City of Mableton to charge a technology fee, set by the judge, of up to $10.00 on each criminal and quasi-criminal fine.
- Restricts use of the collected fee money exclusively to technology needs of the municipal court and the city's police department.
- Lists specific allowed uses, including computer hardware and software, imaging and communications equipment, body and vehicle cameras, drones, and 9-1-1 dispatch operations.
- Requires the fee revenue to be kept in a separate account managed by the court clerk and the city's chief financial officer, subject to outside audit.
- Allows the funds to reimburse the city's information technology department for services it provides to the court or police department.
Who it affects
People convicted or fined in the Municipal Court of the City of Mableton for criminal or quasi-criminal offenses, the court's clerk and staff, the city's chief financial officer, the Mableton Police Department, and the city's information technology department.
Why it matters
Defendants paying fines in Mableton's municipal court would pay up to $10 more per fine, while the city gains a dedicated funding stream for court and police technology, including body cameras, drones, and 9-1-1 systems, without drawing on general city funds.
Key provisions
- Section 1(a) sets the technology fee cap at $10.00 per criminal or quasi-criminal fine, with the exact amount set by the municipal court judge.
- Section 1(a) limits fee use to technology needs of the municipal court and police department, listing computer, imaging, and communications equipment as allowed purchases.
- Section 1(a)(3) specifically allows funding for police body-worn and vehicle cameras, drones, and the 9-1-1 emergency answering system.
- Section 1(b) requires funds to be held in a segregated account overseen by the court clerk and chief financial officer and subject to audit.
- Section 1(b) permits using the funds to reimburse the city's information technology department for services to the court or police.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“the clerk of the Municipal Court of the City of Mableton is hereby authorized to charge and collect a technology fee to be set by the judge of the municipal court in an amount not to exceed $10.00 as a surcharge to each criminal and quasi-criminal fine paid to the court”
“Such technology fees shall be used exclusively to provide for technological needs of the Municipal Court of the City of Mableton and the city's police department.”
Discussed in meetings (5)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House floor session, March 10, 2026 (legislative day 30)
From 0:50:30 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 2378
Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk read the local committee's recommendation to pass the City of Mableton bill. The House later included it in a group of 12 uncontested local bills and passed the group by 159 to 0, without separate presentation or debate.
- Read aloud: House floor session, February 26, 2026 (legislative day 25, AM), 0:50:02
- Read aloud: House floor session, March 3, 2026 (legislative day 26, AM), 0:40:29
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, March 12, 2026 (legislative day 31), 0:24:21
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, March 20, 2026 (legislative day 35), 0:37:08
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 665
- 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
- Terry Cummings (D, HD-39)
- Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-61)
- Gabriel Sanchez (D, HD-42)
Votes
- House voteMarch 10, 2026
159 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 12 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 20, 2026
44 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 5 excused)
Topics
- municipal courts
- court fees
- police technology
- Mableton
- local government funding