--- title: HB 174. Centerville, City of; Municipal Court; charge a technology fee collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb174 cite_as: HB 174, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb174 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb174.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb174/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69651 date: 2025-05-13 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 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/hb173.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb175.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 883 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb174.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 174 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-05-13 last_action: Effective Date 2025-05-13 sponsors: - Bethany Ballard - Anissa Jones text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB174/2025 upstream_id: 1947662 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - municipal court fees - local government funding - Centerville Georgia - court technology - police funding --- # HB 174. Centerville, City of; Municipal Court; charge a technology fee ## Text 25 LC 61 0055/AP House Bill 174 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Ballard of the 147th and Jones of the 143rd A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To authorize the Municipal Court of the City of Centerville to charge a technology fee; to1 identify the authorized uses of such technology fee; to provide for related matters; to repeal2 conflicting laws; and for other purposes.3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:4 SECTION 1.5 (a) The clerk of the Municipal Court of the City of Centerville shall be entitled to charge and6 collect a technology fee as a surcharge to each criminal and qu asi-criminal fine paid. The7 technology fee shall be set by order of the judge of the court, provided that the fee shall not8 exceed $5.00.9 (b) The fee authorized by subsection (a) of this section shall be used exclusively to provide10 for the following technological needs of the court and the city's police department: 11 (1) The purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of comp uter hardware and12 software; and13 (2) The purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of equipment and software used14 for imaging, scanning, facsimile, communications, projections, and printing.15 H. B. 174 - 1 - 25 LC 61 0055/AP (c) All funds collected pursuant to this Act shall be maintained in a segregated account by16 the chief financial officer of the city and clerk of court, separate from other funds of the city,17 and shall be expended only for the authorized purposes provided in this section upon18 direction of the city manager. The funds may be used to reimbu rse the city's information19 technology department for services provided to the court or police department.20 SECTION 2.21 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.22 H. B. 174 - 2 - ## 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 174 lets the Municipal Court of the City of Centerville add a technology fee of up to $5 to criminal and quasi-criminal fines, with the money earmarked for court and police technology. ### Plain-language summary This bill gives the Municipal Court of the City of Centerville authority to charge a technology fee on top of criminal and quasi-criminal fines that people pay in that court. The judge sets the exact fee amount, but it cannot exceed $5.00 per fine. The money raised can only be spent on specific technology needs for the court and the city's police department, such as buying, leasing, maintaining, or installing computer hardware and software, or equipment like scanners, fax machines, projectors, and printers. The funds must be kept in a separate account managed by the city's chief financial officer and the clerk of court, spent only for these purposes, and only with the city manager's approval. The city's information technology department can also be reimbursed from this fund for services it provides to the court or police. ### What it does - Authorizes the clerk of the Municipal Court of the City of Centerville to charge and collect a technology fee on every criminal and quasi-criminal fine paid. - Caps the technology fee at $5.00 per fine, with the exact amount set by order of the court's judge. - Restricts use of the fee revenue to specific technology purchases, leases, maintenance, and installation for the court and city police department. - Requires all collected fees to be kept in a segregated account separate from other city funds, managed by the city's chief financial officer and clerk of court. - Allows the funds to reimburse the city's information technology department for services it performs for the court or police department. - Repeals any existing laws that conflict with this new fee authorization. ### Who it affects People who are fined in the Municipal Court of the City of Centerville for criminal or quasi-criminal offenses, the court's clerk and judge, the city's chief financial officer, the city manager, the city's police department, and the city's information technology department. ### Why it matters Anyone paying a fine in this specific municipal court would pay up to $5 more, and that money would fund technology upgrades for the court and police rather than going into the city's general budget, changing how those purchases get financed. ### Key provisions - Section 1(a) lets the court clerk charge a technology fee as a surcharge on criminal and quasi-criminal fines, capped at $5.00 and set by the judge's order. - Section 1(b) limits use of the fee to computer hardware and software and to imaging, scanning, fax, communications, projection, and printing equipment for the court and police department. - Section 1(c) requires the funds to be held in a segregated account managed by the chief financial officer and clerk of court, spent only for authorized purposes with the city manager's approval, and allows reimbursement of the city's IT department. - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-13) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-05-13 (2025-05-13) - Sponsors: Bethany Ballard, Anissa Jones - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69651 > The history, votes, and amendments (883 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb174.md?full=1