---
title: HB 1540. Ware County; State Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1540
cite_as: HB 1540, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1540
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1540.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1540/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74033
date: 2026-05-12
status: passed
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 898
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1540.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1540
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-05-12
last_action: Effective Date 2026-05-12
sponsors:
  - James Burchett
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1540/2025
upstream_id: 2133365
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - court fees
  - Ware County
  - local legislation
  - court technology funding
---

# HB 1540. Ware County; State Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee

## Text

House Bill 1540 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By: Representative Burchett of the 176th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To authorize the assessment and collection of a technology fee by the State Court of Ware
County; to identify the authorized uses of such technology fee; to provide for the termination
of such technology fee and dedication of residual funds; to provide for related matters; to
repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
(a) The clerk of the State Court of Ware County is hereby authorized to charge and collect
a technology fee to be set by the judge of the state court in an amount not to exceed $10.00
for the filing of each civil action with the court and not to exceed $10.00 as a surcharge upon
each fine assessed by the court. Such technology fees shall be used exclusively to provide
for technological needs of the State Court of Ware County. Such uses shall include only the
following:
(1) Computer hardware and software purchases;
(2) Lease, maintenance, and installation of computer hardware and software; and
(3) Purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of imaging, scanning, facsimile,
communications, projection, and printing equipment and software.
(b) Funds collected pursuant to this section shall be maintained in a segregated account by
the clerk of the state court and shall be used only for the purposes authorized in this section.
(c) The authority to assess the technology fee pursuant to this Act shall terminate on
July 1, 2036, and any residual funds remaining in the account established by subsection (b)
of this section shall remain dedicated to general Ware County technology uses at the
discretion of the Ware County Board of Commissioners.
SECTION 2.
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.

House Bill 1540 would let the State Court of Ware County charge a new technology fee of up to $10 on civil filings and up to $10 as a surcharge on fines, with the money set aside for court technology and the authority to collect it ending in 2036.

### Plain-language summary

This bill applies only to Ware County. It authorizes the clerk of the State Court of Ware County to charge and collect a technology fee, with the amount set by the state court judge, up to $10.00 for filing each civil action and up to $10.00 as a surcharge on each fine the court imposes.
The money collected must be kept in a separate account and can only be spent on the court's technology needs, such as buying or leasing computer hardware and software, and buying, leasing, maintaining, or installing imaging, scanning, fax, communications, projection, and printing equipment. The authority to collect this fee ends on July 1, 2036. Any money left in the account at that point stays dedicated to general Ware County technology purposes, decided by the Ware County Board of Commissioners.

### What it does

- Authorizes the State Court of Ware County's clerk to charge up to a $10.00 technology fee on each civil case filed with the court.
- Authorizes up to a $10.00 technology fee surcharge added onto each fine the court assesses.
- Restricts use of the collected fees to specific technology purchases, leases, maintenance, and installation for the court.
- Requires the fees to be kept in a separate, segregated account managed by the clerk.
- Ends the court's authority to collect the technology fee on July 1, 2036.
- Directs any leftover money after that date to general Ware County technology uses, at the discretion of the county commissioners.

### Who it affects

People who file civil lawsuits in the State Court of Ware County, people who are fined by that court, the court's clerk who collects and manages the fee, the state court judge who sets the fee amount, and the Ware County Board of Commissioners, which controls leftover funds after 2036.

### Why it matters

Civil litigants and people fined in Ware County's state court would pay up to $20 more combined in new fees, money earmarked to modernize the court's computers, printers, and communications equipment rather than going to the county's general fund, at least until the fee authority expires in 2036.

### Key provisions

- Section 1(a) sets the maximum fee at $10.00 per civil filing and $10.00 as a surcharge per fine, with the exact amount set by the state court judge.
- Section 1(a) limits fee spending to computer hardware and software purchases, leasing, maintenance, and installation, and to imaging, scanning, fax, communications, projection, and printing equipment and software.
- Section 1(b) requires the clerk to keep collected fees in a segregated account used only for these authorized purposes.
- Section 1(c) sets a termination date of July 1, 2036 for the fee authority and directs leftover funds to general Ware County technology uses as decided by the county commissioners.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

## Status

- Status: Passed (2026-05-12)
- Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-12 (2026-05-12)
- Sponsors: James Burchett
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74033

> The history, votes, and amendments (898 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1540.md?full=1