HB 254: State government; provide placement of Revolutionary War Patriots marker on state capitol building grounds and state archives building grounds

This bill amends Georgia law governing the Capitol Art Standards Commission and the state's official symbols. It adds a new duty for the commission to oversee designing, procuring, and placing a monument honoring Justice Clarence Thomas inside the Nathan Deal Judicial Center, subject to final approval by a special legislative committee made up of two House members, two Senate members, and one member from each chamber appointed by the Governor. That committee dissolves once the monument is placed, and no state money can be spent on designing or procuring the monument, only private gifts and donations. The bill also creates a new Code section requiring markers commemorating Revolutionary War patriots to be placed on the grounds of the state capitol building and outside the state archives building, marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. Placement must be approved by the Capitol Art Standards Commission for the capitol grounds and by the Board of Regents for the archives grounds, and no public funds may be used for these markers either.

• Adds a duty to Georgia's Capitol Art Standards Commission (O.C.G.A. § 45-13-71) to oversee a monument honoring Justice Clarence Thomas.
• Creates a new law (O.C.G.A. § 50-3-140) requiring a Clarence Thomas monument at the Nathan Deal Judicial Center, funded only by private gifts, not public money.
• Establishes a temporary legislative monument committee with members appointed by the House Speaker, Lieutenant Governor, and Governor to give final approval on the monument's design and placement.
• Requires the monument to wait until the state secures any needed intellectual property license before it can be procured or placed.
• Creates a new law (O.C.G.A. § 50-3-150) requiring Revolutionary War Patriots markers on the state capitol grounds and outside the state archives building, funded privately, marking the nation's 250th anniversary.
• Assigns approval of marker placement to the Capitol Art Standards Commission for the capitol grounds and to the Board of Regents for the archives grounds.

The Capitol Art Standards Commission, which gains new oversight duties; the Board of Regents, which must approve marker placement at the archives building; members of the General Assembly appointed to the monument committee; and private donors or organizations that would fund both the monument and the markers.

If enacted, Georgians would see a new monument honoring Justice Clarence Thomas at a state judicial building and new historical markers at the capitol and archives grounds, all paid for through private donations rather than taxpayer funds, with legislators and state bodies controlling design and placement approval.

• Section 1 adds paragraph (5.1) to O.C.G.A. § 45-13-71, giving the Capitol Art Standards Commission authority over the Clarence Thomas monument's design, procurement, and placement.
• Section 2 creates Article 9 (O.C.G.A. § 50-3-140), establishing the monument, the approval committee's makeup, its dissolution once the monument is placed, and the ban on public funding.
• Section 2 requires the monument to wait for any necessary intellectual property license before it is procured or placed.
• Section 2 creates Article 10 (O.C.G.A. § 50-3-150), requiring Revolutionary War Patriots markers at the capitol and archives grounds tied to the 250th anniversary of the United States.
• Section 2 assigns marker placement approval to the Capitol Art Standards Commission (capitol grounds) and the Board of Regents (archives grounds), with no public funds for design or procurement.
• Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-10Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
2. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
3. 2026-01-12Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
4. 2025-04-02Senate Tabled (Senate)
5. 2025-03-31Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
6. 2025-03-28Senate Recommitted (Senate)
7. 2025-03-21Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
8. 2025-03-20Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)

• Debbie Buckner (D, HD-137)Primary sponsor
• Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
• Katie Dempsey (R, HD-013)
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 27, 2025

   166 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 11 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #104

• state monuments
• Clarence Thomas
• Revolutionary War history
• Capitol Art Standards Commission
• state capitol grounds