--- title: HB 587. Cartersville, City of; provide for a finance director collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb587 cite_as: HB 587, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb587 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb587.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb587/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70696 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/hb586.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb588.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 884 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb587.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 587 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: - Matthew Gambill - Mitchell Scoggins text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB587/2025 upstream_id: 1979989 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - Cartersville city government - local government finance - municipal court fees - city charter amendment - Bartow County --- # HB 587. Cartersville, City of; provide for a finance director ## Text 25 LC 62 0109/AP House Bill 587 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Gambill of the 15th and Scoggins of the 14th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act to reincorporate the City of Cartersville in the County of Bartow, approved1 March 28, 1974 (Ga. L. 1974, p. 3697), as amended, so as to provide for a finance director;2 to remove the duties of an ex officio treasurer from the city clerk; to authorize the Municipal3 Court of the City of Cartersville to charge a technology fee; to identify the authorized uses4 of such technology fee; to provide for the termination of such technology fee; to provide for5 related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:7 SECTION 1.8 An Act to reincorporate the City of Cartersville in the County of Bartow, approved9 March 28, 1974 (Ga. L. 1974, p. 3697), as amended, is amended by revising Section 3.08 as10 follows:11 H. B. 587 - 1 - 25 LC 62 0109/AP "SECTION 3.08.12 City clerk.13 (a) The mayor and council shall appoint a city clerk. He or s he shall be responsible for14 keeping and preserving the city seal and all records of council, attending meetings of the15 council and keeping a journal of its proceedings at such meetings, including the names of16 members present and absent, the vote of each member on each que stion, each motion17 considered, a proper index of such proceedings, and the title o f each resolution or18 ordinance considered; preparing and certifying copies of offici al records in his or her19 office, for which fees may be prescribed by ordinance; and performing such other duties20 as may be required by the city council.21 (b) The city council shall require the clerk, before entering upon the discharge of his or her22 duties, to give a good and sufficient bond in an amount to be decided by the city council,23 but not less than $100,000.00, said bond payable to the City of Cartersville, for the faithful24 performance of his or her duties and to secure against corrupti on, malfeasance,25 misappropriations, or unlawful expenditures. Said surety bond shall be obtained from a26 surety company licensed to do business in the State of Georgia, City of Cartersville, and27 the premium thereon shall be paid by the city.28 (c) The city council shall also appoint a deputy city clerk, who shall discharge the duties29 of the city clerk in his or her absence, and shall have other s uch duties as may be30 designated by the city council."31 SECTION 2.32 Said Act is further amended by adding a new section to read as follows:33 H. B. 587 - 2 - 25 LC 62 0109/AP "SECTION 3.13.34 Finance director.35 The mayor and city council shall approve the appointment of the finance director in the36 same manner as for all other city department heads. The finance director shall be the ex37 officio treasurer and shall also keep a true and accurate accou nt of the receipts and38 expenditures of the city. The city council shall require the finance director, before entering39 upon the discharge of his or her duties, to give a good and sufficient bond in an amount to40 be decided by the city council, but not less than $100,000.00, said bond payable to the City41 of Cartersville, for the faithful performance of his or her dut ies and to secure against42 corruption, malfeasance, misappropriations, or unlawful expenditures. Said surety bond43 shall be obtained from a surety company licensed to do business in the State of Georgia,44 City of Cartersville, and the premium thereon shall be paid by the city."45 SECTION 3.46 Said Act is further amended by adding a new section to read as follows:47 "SECTION 6.08.48 Technology fee.49 (a) The clerk of the Municipal Court of the City of Cartersvil le is hereby authorized to50 charge and collect a technology fee as a surcharge to each criminal and quasi-criminal fine51 paid. The technology fee shall be set by order of the judge of the court, provided that the52 fee shall not exceed $20.00.53 (b) The fee authorized by subsection (a) of this section shall be used exclusively to provide54 for the following technological needs of the court and the city's police department:55 H. B. 587 - 3 - 25 LC 62 0109/AP (1) The purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of comp uter hardware and56 software;57 (2) The purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of equipment and software used58 for imaging, scanning, facsimile, communications, projections, and printing; and59 (3) The purchase of body-worn cameras.60 (c) All funds collected pursuant to this Act shall be maintained in a segregated account by61 the chief financial officer of the city and clerk of court, sep arate from other funds of the62 city, and shall be expended only for the authorized purposes provided in this section upon63 direction of the city manager. The funds may be used to reimburse the city's information64 technology department for services provided to the court or police department.65 (d) The authorization in subsection (a) of this Act to charge and collect a technology fee66 shall expire on July 1, 2030, unless prior to such date the governing authority of the City67 of Cartersville enacts an ordinance renewing such authorization for a further five-year68 period. The governing authority of the City of Cartersville ma y further renew such69 authorization for subsequent five-year periods through the adop tion of subsequent70 ordinances."71 SECTION 4.72 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.73 H. B. 587 - 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. A local bill for Cartersville would create a city finance director position to handle the city's money and take treasurer duties away from the city clerk, and it would let the Municipal Court charge a technology fee of up to $20 per fine. ### Plain-language summary This bill amends Cartersville's city charter, originally set in a 1974 state law. Currently the city clerk handles record-keeping and also serves as the city's ex officio treasurer. The bill rewrites the city clerk's duties to remove the treasurer role and creates a new finance director position, appointed the same way as other city department heads, who becomes the ex officio treasurer and keeps the city's financial accounts. The finance director must post a bond of at least $100,000 paid for by the city. The bill also lets the clerk of the Cartersville Municipal Court charge a technology fee, capped at $20, on criminal and quasi-criminal fines. The money must be kept in a separate account and spent only on technology like computer hardware, software, imaging and communications equipment, and body-worn cameras for the court and police department. This fee authority expires July 1, 2030 unless the city renews it in five-year increments by ordinance. ### What it does - Creates a new city finance director position in Cartersville, appointed like other department heads, who becomes the city's ex officio treasurer and manages financial accounts. - Removes the treasurer duties from the city clerk's job description, leaving the clerk responsible for records and council meetings. - Requires the finance director to post a surety bond of at least $100,000 paid for by the city before starting the job. - Authorizes the Cartersville Municipal Court clerk to charge a technology fee of up to $20 on criminal and quasi-criminal fines. - Restricts technology fee revenue to specific uses like computer equipment, imaging and communication tools, and body-worn cameras, and sets the fee to expire July 1, 2030 unless renewed by city ordinance. ### Who it affects Cartersville city government, including the city clerk, the new finance director position, the mayor and city council who make appointments, the Municipal Court clerk and judge, the city's police department, and anyone who pays criminal or quasi-criminal fines in Cartersville's municipal court. ### Why it matters Cartersville residents and anyone cited in its municipal court would see practical changes: city finances would be overseen by a dedicated finance director rather than the city clerk, and court fines would include a new fee funding police and court technology, including body cameras. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises Section 3.08 of the 1974 charter to redefine the city clerk's duties, removing the ex officio treasurer role. - Section 2 adds new Section 3.13 creating the finance director position, who becomes ex officio treasurer and must post a $100,000+ bond. - Section 3 adds new Section 6.08 authorizing a municipal court technology fee up to $20 per fine, restricting its use to specified technology and body-worn cameras. - Section 3 also requires technology fee funds be kept in a segregated account managed by the chief financial officer and clerk of court, spent only with city manager direction. - Section 3 sets the technology fee authorization to expire July 1, 2030 unless renewed by city ordinance for additional five-year periods. - Section 4 repeals conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-13) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-05-13 (2025-05-13) - Sponsors: Matthew Gambill, Mitchell Scoggins - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70696 > The history, votes, and amendments (884 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb587.md?full=1