--- title: HB 1461. Muscogee County; Superior Court; salary of the clerk of superior court and the chief deputy clerk; change provisions collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1461 cite_as: HB 1461, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1461 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1461.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1461/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73664 date: 2026-03-19 status: engrossed 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/hb1460.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1462.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 473 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1461.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1461 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-03-18 last_action: Senate Read and Referred sponsors: - Teddy Reese - Carolyn Hugley - Debbie Buckner text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1461/2025 upstream_id: 2124826 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - Muscogee County government - court clerk pay - local legislation - county salaries --- # HB 1461. Muscogee County; Superior Court; salary of the clerk of superior court and the chief deputy clerk; change provisions ## Text House Bill 1461 By: Representatives Reese of the 140th, Hugley of the 141st, and Buckner of the 137th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act establishing compensation for the clerk of the Superior Court of Muscogee County, approved February 6, 1952 (Ga. L. 1952, p. 40), as amended, so as to change the provisions relating to the salary of the clerk of superior court and the chief deputy clerk; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. An Act establishing compensation for the clerk of the Superior Court of Muscogee County, approved February 6, 1952 (Ga. L. 1952, p. 40), as amended, is amended by revising Section 1 as follows: "SECTION 1. The salary of the clerk of the Superior Court of Muscogee County shall be not less than 80 percent of the base salary for superior court judges in Muscogee County. Such salary shall be paid from the funds of Muscogee County." SECTION 2. Said Act is further amended by revising Section 1.1 as follows: "SECTION 1.1. There is created the position of chief deputy clerk of the Superior Court of Muscogee County. The chief deputy clerk shall be appointed by the clerk and shall serve at his or her pleasure. The clerk shall fix the salary of the chief deputy clerk; provided, however, that such salary shall be not less than 65 percent of the base salary for superior court judges in Muscogee county. Such salary shall be paid from the funds of Muscogee County." SECTION 3. This Act shall become effective on the first day of the month following the month in which it is approved by the Governor or becomes law without such approval. SECTION 4. 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 House bill would change how the salaries of the Muscogee County superior court clerk and chief deputy clerk are calculated, tying both to a percentage of superior court judges' base pay. ### Plain-language summary This bill amends a 1952 law that sets pay for the clerk of the Superior Court of Muscogee County. Under the bill, the clerk's salary would be set at not less than 80 percent of the base salary paid to superior court judges in Muscogee County, paid from county funds. The bill also updates the pay rule for the chief deputy clerk, a position appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the clerk. The chief deputy clerk's salary would be set by the clerk but must be at least 65 percent of the superior court judges' base salary, also paid from county funds. The changes would take effect on the first day of the month after the Governor signs the bill or it otherwise becomes law. ### What it does - Sets the Muscogee County superior court clerk's salary at not less than 80 percent of the base salary paid to superior court judges in that county. - Sets the chief deputy clerk's salary at not less than 65 percent of the superior court judges' base salary, with the exact amount fixed by the clerk. - Requires both salaries to be paid from Muscogee County funds rather than any other source. - Repeals any existing laws that conflict with these new salary provisions. - Sets the effective date as the first day of the month following the bill's approval by the Governor or its becoming law without approval. ### Who it affects The clerk of the Superior Court of Muscogee County and the chief deputy clerk position are directly affected, along with Muscogee County government, which pays both salaries out of county funds, and superior court judges, whose base pay serves as the benchmark for the clerks' salaries. ### Why it matters The change ties two county courthouse salaries to a percentage of judicial pay rather than a fixed dollar figure, meaning the clerk's and chief deputy clerk's pay would automatically shift whenever superior court judges' base salary changes, affecting Muscogee County's budget and courthouse staffing costs. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises the 1952 compensation act to set the clerk's salary at not less than 80 percent of superior court judges' base salary in Muscogee County, paid from county funds. - Section 2 revises the chief deputy clerk provision, keeping the position appointed by and serving at the clerk's pleasure, and setting a minimum salary of 65 percent of judges' base salary. - Section 3 sets the effective date as the first day of the month following the Governor's approval or the bill becoming law without approval. - Section 4 repeals conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Engrossed (2026-03-18) - Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2026-03-19) - Sponsors: Teddy Reese, Carolyn Hugley, Debbie Buckner - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73664 > The history, votes, and amendments (473 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1461.md?full=1