HB 35: Courts; private attorney appointed to act as district attorney pro tempore; revise compensation

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.

• 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.

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.

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.

• 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.

1. 2026-02-18House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
3. 2025-03-06House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
4. 2025-01-16House Second Readers (House)
5. 2025-01-15House First Readers (House)
6. 2025-01-14House Hopper (House)

• Jordan Ridley (R, HD-022)Primary sponsor
• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)
• Mitchell Horner (R, HD-003)
• Steve Tarvin (R, HD-002)
• Jason Ridley (R, HD-006)
• Brad Thomas (R, HD-021)

• district attorney pay
• court system
• prosecutor compensation
• local government funding