Georgia CommonsHouse · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 35: Courts; private attorney appointed to act as district attorney pro tempore; revise compensation
Last action February 18, 2026 · House Committee Favorably Reported
House Bill 35 would change how private attorneys who temporarily fill in as a district attorney get paid, setting an hourly rate instead of matching the district attorney's salary directly.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Under current Georgia law, when a private attorney is appointed to act as district attorney pro tempore (a temporary stand-in when the elected district attorney is absent or disqualified), that attorney is paid the same rate as the sitting district attorney. House Bill 35 removes that rule and replaces it with a new pay formula. The substitute attorney would be paid whichever is lower: $250 per hour for certified hours worked, or 90 percent of the district attorney's monthly salary (not counting certain supplements). The attorney could also hire private counsel, paralegals, or legal clerks at up to $110 per hour. All of this pay would come from the state funds already budgeted for that district attorney's office, while the county would separately reimburse actual expenses. Hourly rates would be adjusted each year based on the federal Consumer Price Index. The changes would take effect July 1, 2025.
What the bill does
- Removes the current rule paying a substitute district attorney the same rate as the sitting district attorney and replaces it with an hourly-based formula.
- Sets pay at the lesser of $250 per hour of certified work or 90 percent of the district attorney's monthly salary, excluding certain supplements.
- Allows the substitute attorney to hire private counsel, paralegals, or legal clerks at up to $110 per hour, funded from the same state appropriation.
- Requires the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of the State of Georgia to certify hours worked before payment.
- Requires the county where the substitute is acting to reimburse actual expenses at the same rate used for regular district attorneys.
- Requires annual adjustment of the hourly pay rates based on the federal Consumer Price Index.
Who it affects
Private attorneys appointed as district attorney pro tempore, the paralegals and legal clerks they hire, county governments that must reimburse expenses, the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of the State of Georgia, and the state funds that pay for district attorney office operations.
Why it matters
The change affects how much it costs to keep a prosecutor's office running when the elected district attorney cannot serve, replacing a salary-match system with an hourly cap tied to certified work, which could change compensation amounts and add administrative certification steps.
Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 15-18-5(b) to delete the rule tying a substitute attorney's pay to the sitting district attorney's salary rate.
- New paragraph (2)(A) sets pay at the lesser of $250 per certified hour or 90 percent of the district attorney's monthly salary, excluding certain supplements.
- New paragraph (2)(B) allows hiring of private counsel, paralegals, or legal clerks at up to $110 per hour, certified by the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council.
- New paragraph (2)(C) directs that this compensation come from state funds appropriated for the district attorney's office, while counties reimburse actual expenses under O.C.G.A. § 15-18-12.
- New paragraph (2)(D) requires annual inflation adjustments to the hourly rates based on the federal Consumer Price Index.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.
From the bill
“Two hundred fifty dollars per hour for each hour worked as certified by the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of the State of Georgia”
“Ninety percent of the monthly salary of the district attorney in whose place such private attorney is appointed to act”
Discussed in meetings (3)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, February 17, 2026
From 1:35:20 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the bill would increase compensation for special prosecutors to $250 an hour and allow payment for support staff at rates set by the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council, up to $110 an hour. The sponsor said the amounts would be adjusted for inflation and that current compensation was low. Members asked no questions, no amendments were offered, and the committee approved the bill by voice vote for consideration by the Rules Committee. No vote count was stated.
House Rules Committee, February 23, 2026
From 0:34:50 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 35 would increase compensation for special prosecutors, provide for staff compensation and have the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council set rates with annual inflation adjustments. The sponsor described a compensation limit tied to 90% of a district attorney's monthly salary and said the council supported the bill. A committee member pointed out that the effective date still said July 1, 2025, and asked about correcting it to 2026. The sponsor agreed that it should be adjusted, but no formal amendment vote was shown.
Status timeline
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Jordan Ridley (R, HD-22)
- Alan Powell (R, HD-33)
- Mitchell Horner (R, HD-3)
- Steve Tarvin (R, HD-2)
- Jason Ridley (R, HD-6)
- Brad Thomas (R, HD-21)
Topics
- district attorney pay
- court system
- prosecutor compensation
- local government funding