HB 1482: Jails; certain municipal corporations make municipal detention facilities or jails available for use by a sheriff under certain conditions; require

Currently, a municipal corporation that owns a jail or detention facility is not required to let a county sheriff use that space, even if the sheriff needs it. This bill adds a new section to Georgia's jail laws (O.C.G.A. Title 42, Chapter 4) that changes that for municipalities located within the area that state law sets as the jurisdiction of the Capitol Police Division of the Department of Public Safety (O.C.G.A. § 35-2-122). Under the bill, if a sheriff in the county where such a facility sits asks to use it, and the sheriff has enough funding appropriated to pay for it, the municipal corporation must place the facility at the sheriff's disposal, whether or not the facility is currently holding inmates. The municipality may charge the sheriff a fee, but that fee cannot exceed the municipality's actual cost of maintaining the facility. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law without his signature.

• Adds a new Code section requiring certain municipal corporations to make their detention facilities or jails available to a county sheriff who requests use of them.
• Limits this requirement to municipal facilities located within the geographic area defined as the Capitol Police Division's jurisdiction under O.C.G.A. § 35-2-122.
• Applies even if the municipal facility is not currently holding any inmates.
• Conditions the requirement on the sheriff having sufficient funding already appropriated to cover the arrangement.
• Allows the municipal corporation to charge the sheriff a fee for use of the facility, capped at the municipality's actual maintenance cost.
• Sets the effective date as immediately upon the Governor's approval, or upon the bill becoming law without his signature.

County sheriffs seeking additional jail space, municipal corporations that own or operate detention facilities or jails near the State Capitol area, and county governments responsible for funding sheriffs' operations are all directly affected by this bill.

Sheriffs facing overcrowded county jails could gain access to nearby municipal jail space they might not otherwise be allowed to use, while municipalities would be required to share facilities rather than deciding on their own whether to do so, subject to a fee that cannot exceed their actual costs.

• Section 1 adds new Code Section 42-4-17, applying to municipal corporations owning detention facilities or jails within the Capitol Police Division's jurisdictional radius under O.C.G.A. § 35-2-122.
• Subsection (a) requires such a municipality to place its facility at a requesting sheriff's disposal if the sheriff has adequate funding appropriated, regardless of whether the facility currently houses inmates.
• Subsection (b) permits the municipality to charge a fee for the facility's use but caps that fee at the municipality's actual cost of maintaining it.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as upon the Governor's approval or the bill becoming law without approval.
• Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-06House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2026-03-04House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-03House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-26House Hopper (House)

• Charles Martin (R, HD-049)Primary sponsor

• jails and detention facilities
• county sheriffs
• municipal government
• Capitol Police jurisdiction