HB 549: Peace officers; extend time frame for which reimbursement of total training expenses by a subsequent employer may be sought

Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 35-8-22), if a peace officer is hired by a new law enforcement agency within 15 months of finishing required training, the new agency must reimburse the officer's original employer for the full cost of that training. If the officer is hired between 15 and 24 months after training, only half the cost is owed, and after 24 months nothing is owed. House Bill 549 extends the full-reimbursement window from 15 months to 36 months and eliminates the old half-reimbursement middle tier entirely. It also defines for the first time exactly what counts as reimbursable training expense: the cost of equipment and materials from the training school, salary paid during the basic training course plus housing, meals, and transportation during that course, and up to 90 days of salary paid during a field training program. Salary paid during training generally is no longer automatically included unless it fits these categories. The change takes effect once the Governor signs it.

• Extends the period during which a new employer owes full reimbursement for a peace officer's training from 15 months to 36 months after the officer finishes training.
• Removes the previous rule that only half the training cost was owed if the officer was hired 15 to 24 months after training.
• Defines reimbursable training expenses as equipment and materials costs, salary and housing/meal/transportation costs during the basic training course, and up to 90 days of salary during field training.
• Removes the council's former role in setting reimbursement standards based on actual expenses incurred by individual departments.

Peace officers who move between Georgia law enforcement agencies, the state, counties, and municipalities that pay for officer training, and the police and sheriff's departments that hire officers away from other agencies and may now owe reimbursement for a longer period after hiring them.

Agencies that hire an officer away from another department would face reimbursement obligations for three years instead of 15 months, potentially raising the cost of recruiting already-trained officers. Officers changing jobs sooner after training could see their new employer bear a larger, more clearly defined training bill.

• Section 1 rewrites subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 35-8-22, changing the reimbursement trigger window from 15 months to 36 months after training completion.
• Section 1 eliminates the former 15-to-24-month half-reimbursement tier and the automatic inclusion of salary paid during training in the reimbursement amount.
• New paragraph (2) limits reimbursable costs to equipment and materials from the approved training school, salary and living costs during the basic training course under O.C.G.A. § 35-8-9, and up to 90 days of field training salary.
• Section 2 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-05-06Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-06Act 422
3. 2026-05-06House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-03-27Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2026-03-27Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2026-03-27Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
8. 2026-03-27Senate Tabled (Senate)

• Devan Seabaugh (R, HD-034)Primary sponsor
• Lauren McDonald (R, HD-026)
• Derrick McCollum (R, HD-030)
• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-012)
• Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
• Brian Prince (D, HD-132)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2025

   164 yea, 0 nay (12 not voting, 4 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #202

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2026

   26 yea, 22 nay (3 not voting, 3 absent)

   Motion To Table Remaining Legislation On The Rules Calendar: Senate Vote #835

3. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2026

   47 yea, 2 nay (0 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #853

• peace officer training
• law enforcement hiring
• police reimbursement rules
• Georgia law enforcement funding