--- title: HB 591. Cleveland, City of; Municipal Court; charge a technology fee collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb591 cite_as: HB 591, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb591 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb591.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb591/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70700 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/hb590.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb592.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 883 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb591.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 591 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: - Stan Gunter - Will Wade text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB591/2025 upstream_id: 1980053 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - municipal courts - court fees - local government funding - Cleveland Georgia - police technology --- # HB 591. Cleveland, City of; Municipal Court; charge a technology fee ## Text 25 LC 47 3253/AP House Bill 591 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Gunter of the 8th and Wade of the 9th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To authorize the Municipal Court of the City of Cleveland to ch arge a technology fee; to1 identify the authorized uses of such technology fee; to provide for related matters; to repeal2 conflicting laws; and for other purposes.3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:4 SECTION 1.5 (a) The clerk of the Municipal Court of the City of Cleveland shall be entitled to charge and6 collect a technology fee as a surcharge to each criminal and qu asi-criminal fine paid. The7 technology fee shall be set by order of the judge of the court, provided that the fee shall not8 exceed $10.00.9 (b) The fee authorized by subsection (a) of this section shall be used exclusively to provide10 for the following technological needs of the court and the city's police department: 11 (1) The purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of comp uter hardware and12 software; and13 (2) The purchase, lease, maintenance, and installation of equipment and software used14 for imaging, scanning, facsimile, communications, projections, and printing.15 H. B. 591 - 1 - 25 LC 47 3253/AP (c) All funds collected pursuant to this Act shall be maintained in a segregated account by16 the chief financial officer of the city and clerk of court, separate from other funds of the city,17 and shall be expended only for the authorized purposes provided in this section upon18 direction of the city manager. The funds may be used to reimbu rse the city's information19 technology department for services provided to the court or police department.20 SECTION 2.21 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.22 H. B. 591 - 2 - ## 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 591 lets the Municipal Court of the City of Cleveland, Georgia charge a technology fee of up to $10 on criminal and quasi-criminal fines to pay for court and police technology. ### Plain-language summary This bill applies only to the Municipal Court of the City of Cleveland, Georgia. It allows the court clerk to add a technology fee, on top of any fine, to every criminal and quasi-criminal case where a fine is paid. The judge sets the exact fee amount, but it cannot exceed $10.00 per fine. The money collected can only be spent on specific technology needs: buying, leasing, maintaining, and installing computer hardware and software, as well as equipment like scanners, fax machines, printers, projectors, and communications tools for the court and the city's police department. The funds must be kept in a separate account managed by the city's chief financial officer and the clerk of court, and can only be spent with the city manager's approval. The bill also repeals any conflicting laws. ### What it does - Authorizes the Municipal Court of the City of Cleveland to charge a technology fee, capped at $10.00, added to each criminal and quasi-criminal fine paid. - Lets the court's judge set the exact fee amount within that $10.00 limit. - Restricts use of the fee money to buying, leasing, maintaining, and installing computer hardware, software, and related office and communications equipment for the court and police department. - Requires the collected funds to be kept in a separate account managed by the city's chief financial officer and clerk of court, spent only with the city manager's approval. - Allows the funds to be used to reimburse the city's information technology department for services it provides to the court or police department. - Repeals any existing laws that conflict with this new fee authority. ### Who it affects People who pay criminal or quasi-criminal fines in the Municipal Court of the City of Cleveland, Georgia, along with the court's clerk, the city's chief financial officer, city manager, police department, and information technology department, who manage or benefit from the fee revenue. ### Why it matters Anyone fined in this specific municipal court would pay up to $10 more per case, with the money set aside for updating court and police technology like computers, scanners, and communication equipment rather than going into the city's general fund. ### Key provisions - Section 1(a) authorizes the clerk of the Municipal Court of the City of Cleveland to charge a technology fee as a surcharge on criminal and quasi-criminal fines, capped at $10.00 and set by the judge. - Section 1(b) limits use of the fee to purchasing, leasing, maintaining, and installing computer hardware and software, and equipment for imaging, scanning, faxing, communications, projection, and printing for the court and police department. - Section 1(c) requires the funds to be kept in a segregated account by the city's chief financial officer and clerk of court, spent only for authorized purposes with the city manager's direction, and allows reimbursement of the city's IT department. - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-13) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-05-13 (2025-05-13) - Sponsors: Stan Gunter, Will Wade - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70700 > The history, votes, and amendments (883 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb591.md?full=1