--- title: HB 381. Lower Chattahoochee Regional Transportation Authority; add Clay, Marion, and Webster counties collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb381 cite_as: HB 381, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb381 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb381.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb381/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70181 date: 2025-05-13 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb380.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb382.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 883 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb381.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 381 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-05-13 last_action: Effective Date 2025-05-13 sponsors: - Gerald Greene - Mike Cheokas text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB381/2025 upstream_id: 1965788 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - regional transportation authority - county government - Chattahoochee region - local government law - transportation funding --- # HB 381. Lower Chattahoochee Regional Transportation Authority; add Clay, Marion, and Webster counties ## Text 25 LC 47 3254/AP House Bill 381 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Greene of the 154th and Cheokas of the 151st A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act to create the Lower Chattahoochee Regional Tran sportation Authority,1 approved April 11, 2012 (Ga. L. 2012, p. 5019), as amended, particularly by an Act approved2 April 25, 2022 (Ga. L. 2022, p. 5725), so as to add Clay, Marion, and Webster counties to3 the authority; to revise provisions for the appointment of members; to add references to said4 additional counties to provisions related to credit not pledged, tort immunity, and effects on5 other governments; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other6 purposes.7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:8 SECTION 1.9 An Act to create the Lower Chattahoochee Regional Transportatio n Authority, approved10 April 11, 2012 (Ga. L. 2012, p. 5019), as amended, particularly by an Act approved April 25,11 2022 (Ga. L. 2022, p. 5725), is amended by revising subsection (b) of Section 2 as follows:12 "(b) The Authority shall consist of 15 members who shall be app ointed as follows: two13 members shall be appointed by each of the governing bodies of C lay, Harris, Marion,14 Quitman, Randolph, Stewart, Webst er, and The Unified Government o f15 Cusseta-Chattahoochee Counties. Each member shall serve for a term of four years except16 H. B. 381 - 1 - 25 LC 47 3254/AP that one of the two initial members appointed by each governing body shall serve for two17 years. The fourteen members so appointed shall appoint the fifteenth member, who shall18 be a resident of Clay, Harris, Marion, Quitman, Randolph, Stewa rt, Webster, and The19 Unified Government of Cusseta-Chattahoochee counties for a term of four years. Members20 of the Authority shall serve the term specified and until their successors are appointed and21 qualified; provided however, that any member of the Authority m ay be removed at any22 time by the governing Authority which appointed such member, wi th or without cause. 23 Any member of the Authority may be selected and appointed to succeed himself or herself. 24 Any vacancy on the Authority shall be filled in the same manner as was the original25 appointment of the member whose term of membership resulted in such vacancy, and the26 person so selected and appointed shall serve for the remainder of the expired term. The27 members of the Authority shall be reimbursed out of the funds o f the Authority for all28 actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. The Authority shall make rules29 and regulations for its own government. The Authority shall have perpetual existence."30 SECTION 2.31 Said Act is further amended by revising Section 13 as follows:32 "SECTION 13.33 Credit not pledged.34 Revenue Bonds issued under the provisions of this Act shall not be deemed to constitute35 a debt of Clay, Harris, Marion, Quitman, Randolph, Stewart, Web ster, and The Unified36 Government of Cusseta-Chattahoochee counties nor pledge of fait h and credit of any of37 said counties; but such bonds shall be payable solely from the funds provided in this Act,38 and the issuance of such revenue bonds shall not directly, indi rectly, or contingently39 obligate said counties to levy or pledge any form of taxation whatever therefore or to make40 H. B. 381 - 2 - 25 LC 47 3254/AP any appropriation for their payment. All such bonds shall cont ain recitals on their face41 covering the foregoing provisions of this section."42 SECTION 3.43 Said Act is further amended by revising Section 25 as follows:44 "SECTION 25.45 Tort immunity.46 The Authority shall have the same immunity and exemption from l iability for torts and47 negligence as Clay, Harris, Marion, Quitman, Randolph, Stewart, Webster, and The48 Unified Government of Cusseta-Chattahoochee counties and the of ficers, agents, and49 employees of the Authority, when in performance of their work f or the Authority, shall50 have the same immunity and exemption from liability for torts and negligence as officers,51 agents, and employees of Clay, Harris, Marion, Quitman, Randolph, Stewart, Webster, and52 The Unified Government of Cusseta-Chattahoochee counties as when the performance of53 their public duties or work of such counties."54 SECTION 4.55 Said Act is further amended by revising Section 27 as follows:56 "SECTION 27.57 Effect on other governments.58 This Act shall not and does not in any way take from Clay, Harr is, Marion, Quitman,59 Randolph, Stewart, Webster, and The Unified Government of Cusse ta-Chattahoochee60 counties or any municipalities located in such counties or any adjoining counties the61 H. B. 381 - 3 - 25 LC 47 3254/AP authority to own, operate, and maintain projects or to issue revenue bonds as provided in62 Article 3 of Chapter 82 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, the 'Revenue63 Bond Law.'"64 SECTION 5.65 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.66 H. B. 381 - 4 - ## 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 381 adds Clay, Marion, and Webster counties to the Lower Chattahoochee Regional Transportation Authority and updates the authority's governing rules to include them alongside the counties already members. ### Plain-language summary The Lower Chattahoochee Regional Transportation Authority was created in 2012 to let a group of counties in that part of Georgia jointly own, operate, and fund transportation projects, including issuing revenue bonds. This bill amends that original authorizing law to formally add Clay, Marion, and Webster counties to the authority, joining Harris, Quitman, Randolph, Stewart counties and the Unified Government of Cusseta-Chattahoochee. The bill rewrites several sections of the founding Act so the new counties are named everywhere the old member counties were listed. It updates how members are appointed to the authority's board, confirms that authority bonds do not count as debt of any member county, extends the authority's tort immunity (legal protection from certain lawsuits) to cover the new counties, and clarifies that the Act does not strip any county or city of its existing power to run transportation projects on its own. ### What it does - Adds Clay, Marion, and Webster counties as members of the Lower Chattahoochee Regional Transportation Authority alongside the existing member counties. - Revises Section 2 to set the authority's membership at 15 members, with two appointed by each of the eight member governments and a 15th chosen by the other 14. - Revises Section 13 to state that authority revenue bonds are not a debt of Clay, Marion, Webster, or any other member county and do not obligate them to tax or pay for the bonds. - Revises Section 25 to extend the authority's and its officers' tort immunity (protection from certain lawsuits) to match that of all member counties, including the newly added ones. - Revises Section 27 to confirm the Act does not remove any member county's or municipality's existing power to run its own transportation projects or issue its own revenue bonds. ### Who it affects The county governments of Clay, Marion, and Webster, which gain seats on the regional transportation authority; the existing member counties (Harris, Quitman, Randolph, Stewart) and the Unified Government of Cusseta-Chattahoochee; and residents and municipalities within all these counties whose transportation projects may be handled by the authority. ### Why it matters By joining the authority, Clay, Marion, and Webster counties gain a formal role in regional transportation planning and bonding, including appointing board members, while keeping their own taxing power separate from the authority's bond debt and preserving their existing rights to run local transportation projects independently. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises Section 2(b) of the original Act to expand the authority to 15 members, two appointed by each of the eight member governments including Clay, Marion, and Webster, plus one member chosen by the other 14. - Section 2 revises Section 13 to state revenue bonds issued by the authority are not a debt or credit pledge of any member county, including the three newly added counties. - Section 3 revises Section 25 to give the authority and its staff the same tort immunity as the member counties, extending that protection to Clay, Marion, and Webster. - Section 4 revises Section 27 to clarify the Act does not take away any member county's or municipality's authority to own, operate, or fund its own transportation projects. - Section 5 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-13) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-05-13 (2025-05-13) - Sponsors: Gerald Greene, Mike Cheokas - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70181 > The history, votes, and amendments (883 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb381.md?full=1