HB 224: Highways, bridges, and ferries; construction or maintenance of roads upon military bases or installations paid for by the United States Department of Defense or other entities; authorize

Under current Georgia law, state and local officials are generally barred from authorizing the construction or maintenance of private roads, which includes roads on military bases. House Bill 224 amends that law (O.C.G.A. § 32-1-8) to carve out an exception for the Department of Transportation. The bill allows the department to build or maintain a road on a military base or military installation, but only when it acts under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense or another federal entity, and only if the money for the work comes entirely from that federal entity rather than from state funds. The general ban on building private roads still applies in all other situations. The bill repeals any conflicting laws and does not list a delayed effective date beyond the standard process for new Georgia laws.

• Creates an exception to Georgia's ban on building or maintaining private roads, specifically for roads on military bases or installations.
• Allows the Department of Transportation to do this work only when acting under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense or another federal entity.
• Requires that all funds used for this road work come solely from the federal entity, not from state money.
• Leaves the existing ban on private road construction and maintenance in place for every other official, officer, or employee covered by the law.

The Georgia Department of Transportation, which gains new authority to work on military base roads; the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal entities that would fund and request the work; and military installations in Georgia that rely on access roads maintained through these agreements.

Military bases in Georgia could get road construction or repairs done by the state's transportation department instead of relying solely on federal contractors, as long as the federal government foots the bill. This clarifies that state law does not stand in the way of such federally funded partnerships.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 32-1-8 by adding a new subsection (a) that keeps the existing ban on building private roads, with an exception carved out.
• New subsection (b) authorizes the Department of Transportation to construct or maintain a private road on a military base or installation when acting under agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense or another federal entity.
• Subsection (b) requires that funds for this work come solely from the U.S. Department of Defense or the other federal entity, not from state resources.
• Section 2 repeals any laws that conflict with the new provisions.

1. 2025-07-01Effective Date
2. 2025-05-13Act 180
3. 2025-05-13House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-09House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-04-04Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2025-04-04Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2025-04-04Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
8. 2025-04-02Senate Tabled (Senate)

• Josh Bonner (R, HD-73)Primary sponsor
• Shaw Blackmon (R, HD-146)
• Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
• Vance Smith (R, HD-138)
• Steven Sainz (R, HD-180)
• Al Williams (D, HD-168)
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-54)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2025

   172 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 6 excused)

   PASSAGE: House Vote #216

2. PassedSenate voteApril 4, 2025

   51 yea, 0 nay (4 not voting, 1 excused)

   PASSAGE: Senate Vote #484

• highways and roads
• military bases
• transportation funding
• Georgia Department of Transportation