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House · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session

HB 1534: Chatham County; State Court; provide additional judge

Last action May 12, 2026 · Effective Date

House Bill 1534 would add a fourth judge to the State Court of Chatham County starting January 1, 2027, with the new judge first appointed by the Governor and later elected by county voters.

Read the full bill text

These buttons carry the bill's own text, not the summaries below. Copy for LLM, View as markdown, and Send to AI use the Markdown version: the text as filed, then the summaries under a heading that names them as ours. View raw is the text alone.

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

The State Court of Chatham County currently has three judges under a law that dates back to 1819 and was last revised in 2003. This bill amends that law to add a fourth judgeship. Until January 1, 2027, the court keeps its current three judges, who continue serving the terms they were elected or appointed to. Starting January 1, 2027, a fourth judge position is created. The Governor appoints that first fourth judge to a term running through December 31, 2028. After that, Chatham County voters elect the fourth judge's successor at the 2028 general primary, and that elected judge serves a four-year term. The new judge has the same powers, duties, and pay as the other State Court judges, and any judge may handle any case. Chatham County's governing authority is authorized, at the new judge's request, to provide courtroom space, office space, equipment, supplies, and staff, with those costs paid from the county treasury.

What the bill does

  • Adds a fourth judgeship to the State Court of Chatham County, effective January 1, 2027, increasing the court from three judges to four.
  • Has the Governor appoint the first fourth judge to serve an initial term through December 31, 2028.
  • Requires Chatham County voters to elect the fourth judge's permanent successor at the 2028 general primary, for a four-year term.
  • Gives the fourth judge the same powers, jurisdiction, and pay as the court's existing judges.
  • Authorizes Chatham County's governing authority to provide courtroom space, offices, equipment, supplies, and personnel for the new judge, funded from the county treasury.

Who it affects

Residents and litigants in Chatham County who use the State Court, the current and future judges of that court, the Governor's office (which makes the initial appointment), Chatham County voters (who elect the judge's successor in 2028), and Chatham County's governing authority, which must fund facilities and staff for the new judge.

Why it matters

Adding a fourth judge could help the State Court of Chatham County handle its caseload more quickly, since more judges can share the workload. It also means Chatham County taxpayers cover the cost of an additional judge's courtroom, staff, and equipment starting in 2027.

Key provisions

  • Section 1 revises Section 2A of the original 1819 Act creating the State Court of Chatham County, as amended in 2003.
  • Subsection (a) keeps three judges in place until January 1, 2027, with current judges serving out their existing terms.
  • Subsection (b) creates a fourth judgeship effective January 1, 2027, appointed by the Governor through December 31, 2028, with a successor elected by Chatham County voters at the 2028 general primary for a four-year term.
  • Subsection (c) gives the fourth judge equal powers, duties, jurisdiction, and compensation, and authorizes county-funded courtroom space, equipment, supplies, and personnel.
  • Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

From the bill

“Effective January 1, 2027, there shall be four judges of the State Court of Chatham County.”

This is the bill's core change, creating a new fourth judgeship on the court.

“The fourth judge added effective January 1, 2027, shall be appointed by the Governor for an initial term of office ending on December 31, 2028”

Explains how the first person to hold the new judgeship will be chosen and for how long.

Discussed in meetings (8)

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.

  1. House floor session, March 18, 2026 (legislative day 33)

    From 0:51:17 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 2707

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk read a committee recommendation to pass HB 1534 and later included it in the local calendar for Chatham County. There was no individual presentation or debate. The House passed the package, 161 to 2.

  2. House floor session, April 2, 2026 (legislative day 40, PM, part 1)

    From 1:48:04 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (House Withdrawn, Recommitted)

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk described HB 1534 as providing an additional State Court judge in Chatham County. The committee chair moved to remove it from the local calendar and return it to the Intergovernmental Relations Committee. The House agreed without objection. The presiding chair later confirmed that it was excluded from the local calendar vote.

  3. House floor session, April 2, 2026 (legislative day 40, PM, part 2)

    From 3:31:50 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub)

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk listed HB 1534, a Chatham County measure, for agreement to the Senate's replacement version on the supplemental local calendar. The chair said the local delegation supported agreement and the required signatures had been obtained. No explanation of the provisions or debate was shown. The House approved the local-calendar action, 101 to 69.

  4. House Intragovernmental Coordination Committee, April 2, 2026

    From 0:04:14 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the proposal would add a fourth State Court judge in Chatham County after the chief judge’s workload study identified a need. The sponsor said the original version balanced that need with preserving an election and giving the county time to fund an ongoing expense: an election in May 2028, with service and county funding beginning in January 2029. The sponsor said the Senate substitute instead provided for an appointment and county funding beginning in January 2027. One committee member supported obtaining a judge quickly but raised concerns about coordination among governmental groups. Another member asked whether the earlier deadline would strain the county budget and why senators accelerated it. The sponsor said county leaders had expressed concern and wanted a budget presentation, but the sponsor did not know specific costs or whether there would be a shortfall. The sponsor said senators had not explained the acceleration to the sponsor. A further member asked for clarification of both timelines. Asked by the chair whether an additional judge would help residents get cases heard sooner, the sponsor agreed while emphasizing budget predictability. No vote was taken; the chair said the decision would be made on the House floor.

Status timeline

  1. 2026-05-12Effective Date
  2. 2026-05-12Act 672
  3. 2026-05-12House Date Signed by Governor (House)
  4. 2026-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
  5. 2026-04-02House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
  6. 2026-04-02House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
  7. 2026-03-25Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
  8. 2026-03-25Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
Show full history (15 actions)
  1. 2026-03-19Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
  2. 2026-03-18House Passed/Adopted (House)
  3. 2026-03-18House Third Readers (House)
  4. 2026-03-18House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
  5. 2026-03-12House Second Readers (House)
  6. 2026-03-10House First Readers (House)
  7. 2026-03-09House Hopper (House)

Sponsors

  • Ron Stephens (R, HD-164)Primary sponsor
  • Jesse Petrea (R, HD-166)
  • Edna Jackson (D, HD-165)
  • Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)

Votes

  1. PassedHouse voteMarch 18, 2026

    161 yea, 2 nay (7 not voting, 6 excused)

    Local Calendar: House Vote #712

  2. PassedSenate voteMarch 25, 2026

    50 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 2 excused)

    LOCAL CONSENT CALENDAR: Senate Vote #799

  3. PassedHouse voteApril 2, 2026

    101 yea, 69 nay (3 not voting, 3 excused)

    Supplemental Local Calendar #2: House Vote #871

Topics

  • Chatham County courts
  • state court judges
  • local government law
  • judicial appointments
  • Georgia elections

Ask about this bill

Answers come from this document. Not legal advice.

Machine-readable https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1534.md · https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md · MCP https://mcp.georgiacommons.org/mcp