--- title: HB 1549. Cornelia, City of; Municipal Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1549 cite_as: HB 1549, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1549 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1549.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1549/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74090 date: 2026-05-11 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1548.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1550.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 887 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1549.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1549 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-05-11 last_action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 sponsors: - Victor Anderson - Chris Erwin text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1549/2025 upstream_id: 2134481 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - municipal courts - local government fees - police technology - Cornelia Georgia - court fines --- # HB 1549. Cornelia, City of; Municipal Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee ## Text House Bill 1549 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Anderson of the 10th and Erwin of the 32nd A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To authorize the assessment and collection of a technology fee by the Municipal Court of the City of Cornelia; to identify the authorized uses of such technology fee; 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 Municipal Court of the City of Cornelia is hereby authorized to charge and collect a technology fee to be set by the judge of the municipal court in an amount not to exceed $10.00 as a surcharge to each criminal and quasi-criminal fine paid to the court. Such technology fees shall be used exclusively to provide for technological needs of the Municipal Court of the City of Cornelia and the city's police department. Such uses shall include only the following: (1) The purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of computer hardware and software; (2) The purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of equipment and software used for imaging, scanning, facsimile, communications, projections, and printing; and (3) Police department hardware and software, including, but not limited to, associated equipment for body-worn, mobile, stationary, or vehicle mounted cameras; drones; and operations of 9-1-1 emergency response through its dedicated public safety answering point system. (b) Funds collected pursuant to this section shall be maintained in a segregated account by the clerk of the municipal court and the chief financial officer of the city, subject to audit by an auditor approved by the governing authority of the City of Cornelia, and shall be used only for the purposes authorized in this section. Such funds may be used to reimburse the city's information technology department for services provided to the court or police department. 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. A local Georgia bill would let the Municipal Court of the City of Cornelia charge a technology fee of up to $10 on criminal and quasi-criminal fines, with the money earmarked for court and police technology. ### Plain-language summary This bill applies only to the Municipal Court of the City of Cornelia. It authorizes the court clerk to add a technology fee, set by the municipal court judge, of up to $10.00 on top of each fine paid for a criminal or quasi-criminal offense. The money raised must be spent only on technology needs for the municipal court and the city's police department, such as computers, software, imaging and communications equipment, and police equipment like body cameras, drones, and 9-1-1 dispatch systems. The funds must be kept in a separate account managed by the court clerk and the city's chief financial officer, and that account is subject to audit by an auditor the Cornelia city government approves. The bill repeals any conflicting laws. ### What it does - Authorizes the Cornelia Municipal Court clerk to charge a technology fee of up to $10.00 on each criminal and quasi-criminal fine. - Lets the municipal court judge set the exact fee amount within that $10.00 cap. - Restricts use of the fee revenue to specific technology purchases for the court and city police department, including computer and communications equipment. - Allows police technology purchases such as body-worn and vehicle cameras, drones, and 9-1-1 dispatch system operations to be funded from the fee. - Requires the fee money to be kept in a segregated account managed by the court clerk and the city's chief financial officer, subject to outside audit. - Permits the funds to reimburse Cornelia's information technology department for services it provides to the court or police department. ### Who it affects People who pay criminal or quasi-criminal fines in the Municipal Court of the City of Cornelia, the court's clerk and judge, the city's chief financial officer and information technology department, and the Cornelia police department, which can receive technology funded by the fee. ### Why it matters Anyone fined in Cornelia's municipal court would pay up to $10 more per fine, generating dedicated funding for court and police technology like body cameras and 9-1-1 systems, without drawing on the city's general budget for those purchases. ### Key provisions - Section 1(a) sets the technology fee cap at $10.00 per criminal or quasi-criminal fine, with the exact amount set by the municipal court judge. - Section 1(a) lists three permitted uses: computer hardware and software, imaging and communications equipment, and police department equipment including cameras, drones, and 9-1-1 dispatch operations. - Section 1(b) requires the fee revenue be kept in a segregated account overseen by the court clerk and city chief financial officer and subject to audit. - Section 1(b) allows using the funds to reimburse the city's information technology department for services to the court or police. - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-05-11) - Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 (2026-05-11) - Sponsors: Victor Anderson, Chris Erwin - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74090 > The history, votes, and amendments (887 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1549.md?full=1