---
title: HB 369. Motor vehicles; sale of food or beverages; provide vehicle equipment standards
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb369
cite_as: HB 369, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb369
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb369.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb369/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70131
date: 2026-05-12
status: passed
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 1505
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb369.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 369
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-05-12
last_action: Effective Date 2028-01-01
sponsors:
- Dexter Sharper
- Bill Hitchens
- John LaHood
- Sylvia Baker
- Terry Cummings
- Eric Bell
- John Albers
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB369/2025
upstream_id: 1964507
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- nonpartisan elections
- county government
- district attorney elections
- election law
- local government offices
---
# HB 369. Motor vehicles; sale of food or beverages; provide vehicle equipment standards
## Text
House Bill 369 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By: Representatives Sharper of the 177th, Hitchens of the 161st, LaHood of the 175th, Baker
of the 64th, Cummings of the 39th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
primaries and elections generally, so as to provide for the nonpartisan election of county
officers and district attorneys in certain counties; to provide for the qualifying for such
offices; to provide for definitions; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective
date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elections and
primaries generally, is amended in by revising paragraph (2) of subsection (c) of Code
Section 21-2-132, relating to filing notice of candidacy, nomination petition, and affidavit,
reopening qualifying period, payment of qualifying fee, and pauper's affidavit and qualifying
petition for exemption from qualifying fee, as follows:
"(2) Each candidate for a county judicial office, a local board of education office, or an
office of a consolidated government, or the candidate's agent, desiring to have his or her
name placed on the nonpartisan election ballot shall file notice of candidacy in the office
of the superintendent no earlier than 9:00 A.M. on the Monday of the eleventh week
immediately prior to the election and no later than 12:00 Noon on the Friday immediately
following such Monday, notwithstanding the fact that any such days may be legal
holidays;"
SECTION 2.
Said chapter is further amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"21-2-140.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Consolidated law enforcement county' means any county where the elected office
of county coroner has been abolished.
(2) 'County office' means any office where the electors of a county elected the
officeholder. Such term shall include, but not be limited to, members of a county
governing authority, tax commissioners, clerks of superior court, solicitor-generals, and
where such offices are elected by the electors of such county, clerk of the state court and
county surveyor.
(b) Except as provided for in subsection (c) of this Code section, all candidates to fill
elected county offices in a consolidated law enforcement county shall be elected in
nonpartisan elections.
(c) The provisions of this Code section shall not apply to:
(1) The office of county sheriff; or
(2) Offices of county governing authorities established pursuant to or authorized by a
local constitutional amendment.
(d) County officers provided for in subsection (b) of this Code section shall be elected in
nonpartisan elections held and conducted in conjunction with the general primary in
even-numbered years in accordance with this chapter without a prior nonpartisan primary.
Except as otherwise provided in this Code section, the procedures employed in such
elections shall conform as nearly as practicable to the procedures governing nonpartisan
elections as provided in this chapter. Except as otherwise provided in this Code section,
the election procedures established by any existing local law which provides for the
partisan election of candidates to fill elected county offices shall be repealed and elections
for such county offices shall be conducted as nonpartisan elections accordance with the
applicable provisions of this chapter, notwithstanding the provisions of any existing local
law.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, all candidates to
fill the office of district attorney for a judicial circuit comprised solely of a consolidated
law enforcement county shall be elected in nonpartisan elections to be held as part of the
November election as that term is defined in paragraph (15) of Code Section 21-2-2
without a prior nonpartisan primary. No candidate for any such office shall be nominated
by a political party or by a petition as a candidate of a political body or as an independent
candidate. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the procedures employed in
such elections shall conform as nearly as practicable to the procedures governing
nonpartisan elections as provided in this chapter. All candidates to fill the office of district
attorney for a judicial circuit comprised solely of a consolidated law enforcement county
shall qualify with the Secretary of State in the same manner and at the same time as
provided for candidates to qualify for the office of judge in Code Section 21-2-138."
SECTION 3.
This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2028.
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## 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 369 would require certain county offices and some district attorney races to be elected on a nonpartisan basis in counties that have abolished the elected coroner position, starting January 1, 2028.
### Plain-language summary
This bill changes how some local elections work in Georgia. It amends the state election code (O.C.G.A. Title 21) to create a new category called a 'consolidated law enforcement county,' defined as any county that has eliminated the elected office of coroner. In those counties, most elected county offices, such as members of the county governing authority, tax commissioners, clerks of superior court, and solicitor-generals, would be elected without party labels rather than through the usual partisan primary and general election process. The sheriff's office and county governing authorities created under a local constitutional amendment are exempted from this change.
The bill also makes district attorney elections nonpartisan in judicial circuits made up entirely of one consolidated law enforcement county, with those races held during the November general election and candidates qualifying with the Secretary of State the same way judicial candidates do. Any existing local law setting up partisan elections for these offices would be overridden. The changes would take effect January 1, 2028.
### What it does
- Creates a new legal category, 'consolidated law enforcement county,' for any county that has abolished its elected coroner position.
- Requires most elected county offices in those counties, such as tax commissioners and clerks of superior court, to be filled through nonpartisan elections instead of party primaries.
- Exempts the office of county sheriff and governing authorities set up under a local constitutional amendment from the nonpartisan election requirement.
- Makes district attorney races nonpartisan in judicial circuits made up of a single consolidated law enforcement county, held during the November general election.
- Overrides any existing local law that currently sets up partisan elections for these county offices.
- Sets the effective date for all these changes as January 1, 2028.
### Who it affects
Voters, candidates, and county officeholders in Georgia counties that have eliminated the elected coroner position, including candidates for tax commissioner, clerk of superior court, solicitor-general, county governing authority seats, and certain district attorneys, along with the Secretary of State's office, which handles candidate qualifying.
### Why it matters
Removing party labels from these local races changes how candidates campaign and how voters choose them, since ballots would no longer show party affiliation for the affected offices. It also nullifies existing local laws that set up partisan elections in these counties, standardizing the process statewide for this specific category of county.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. ยง 21-2-132 to remove the word 'judicial' from the list of county offices that use the nonpartisan candidacy filing window, broadening which county offices qualify under that process.
- Section 2 adds a new Code Section 21-2-140 defining 'consolidated law enforcement county' as one where the elected coroner office has been abolished.
- Section 2 requires nonpartisan election of county offices such as governing authority members, tax commissioners, clerks of superior court, and solicitor-generals in those counties, unless exempted.
- Section 2 exempts the sheriff's office and governing authorities created by local constitutional amendment from the nonpartisan election rule.
- Section 2 makes district attorney elections nonpartisan for judicial circuits consisting solely of one consolidated law enforcement county, held during the November general election without a prior primary.
- Section 2 repeals conflicting local laws that currently provide for partisan election of these county offices.
- Section 3 sets the effective date as January 1, 2028.
- Section 4 repeals all other laws in conflict with the Act.
## Status
- Status: Passed (2026-05-12)
- Last action: Effective Date 2028-01-01 (2026-05-12)
- Sponsors: Dexter Sharper, Bill Hitchens, John LaHood, Sylvia Baker, Terry Cummings, Eric Bell, John Albers
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70131
> The history, votes, and amendments (1,505 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb369.md?full=1