Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 1528: Franklin Springs, City of; Municipal Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee
Last action May 11, 2026 · Effective Date
A Georgia House bill lets the Municipal Court of the City of Franklin Springs charge a new technology fee of up to $15 on criminal fines, with the money set aside for court technology through 2036.
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
Currently the Municipal Court of the City of Franklin Springs has no separate fee dedicated to funding its own technology needs. This bill authorizes the court clerk, under an amount set by the municipal court judge, to add a surcharge of up to $15.00 to each criminal and quasi-criminal fine paid to the court. The money collected must be kept in a separate account, audited by an auditor approved by the city's governing authority, and can only be spent on computer hardware and software, related maintenance and installation, and imaging, scanning, communications, and printing equipment. The authority to collect this fee ends on July 1, 2036. Any money left over at that point stays dedicated to general city technology uses, unless the city government decides there is a surplus, in which case the court clerk can transfer the extra funds to the city.
What the bill does
- Authorizes the Franklin Springs Municipal Court clerk to add a technology fee of up to $15.00 to each criminal and quasi-criminal fine.
- Limits how the fee money can be spent: computer hardware and software, related maintenance and installation, and imaging, scanning, and printing equipment.
- Requires the fee revenue to be kept in a separate account subject to audit by an auditor approved by the city government.
- Sets the fee's collection authority to expire on July 1, 2036, with leftover funds dedicated to general city technology uses unless declared surplus.
- Allows the city's governing authority to have surplus leftover funds transferred to it by the court clerk.
Who it affects
People who pay criminal or quasi-criminal fines in the Municipal Court of the City of Franklin Springs, the court's clerk and judge, and the City of Franklin Springs' governing authority, which oversees the fee's audit and eventual surplus funds.
Why it matters
People fined in this municipal court would pay up to $15 more per fine, funding the court's own technology upgrades rather than relying on the city's general budget. The fee is temporary, ending in 2036, and its spending is restricted to specific equipment purposes.
Key provisions
- Section 1(a) sets the technology fee cap at $15.00 per criminal or quasi-criminal fine, with the exact amount set by the municipal court judge.
- Section 1(a) restricts fee spending to three categories: computer hardware/software purchases, hardware lease/maintenance/installation, and imaging/scanning/communications/printing equipment.
- Section 1(b) requires the fee revenue to be held in a segregated account subject to audit by a city-approved auditor.
- Section 1(c) terminates the fee authority on July 1, 2036, dedicating residual funds to general city technology uses unless declared a surplus.
- Section 1(c) permits the court clerk to transfer surplus funds to the city's governing authority if the city determines a surplus exists.
From the bill
“Such technology fees shall be used exclusively to provide for technological needs of the Municipal Court of the City of Franklin Springs.”
“The authority to assess the technology fee pursuant to this Act shall terminate on July 1, 2036”
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 20, 2026 (legislative day 35)
From 0:49:11 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 2902
Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk reported a favorable committee recommendation for HB 1528 and later listed it as a City of Franklin Springs bill on the uncontested local calendar. No separate presentation or debate occurred. The House passed the calendar as a group, 153 to 0.
- Read aloud: House floor session, March 10, 2026 (legislative day 30), 0:36:34
- Read aloud: House floor session, March 12, 2026 (legislative day 31), 0:45:40
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, March 23, 2026 (legislative day 36), 0:29:57
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, March 25, 2026 (legislative day 37), 0:36:37
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 580
- 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
- Alan Powell (R, HD-33)
Votes
- House voteMarch 20, 2026
153 yea, 0 nay (14 not voting, 9 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 25, 2026
50 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 2 excused)
Topics
- municipal courts
- court fees
- local government funding
- Franklin Springs
- court technology