---
title: HB 610. Local government; authorize acquisition of property interests by municipal elected and appointed officials and employees in redevelopment areas with certain conditions
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb610
cite_as: HB 610, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb610
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb610.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb610/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70738
date: 2025-02-27
status: introduced
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: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb610.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 610
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-24
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Teddy Reese
- Carolyn Hugley
- Carmen Rice
- Debbie Buckner
- Vance Smith
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB610/2025
upstream_id: 1982187
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- redevelopment law
- conflict of interest
- local government ethics
- municipal officials
- property disclosure
---
# HB 610. Local government; authorize acquisition of property interests by municipal elected and appointed officials and employees in redevelopment areas with certain conditions
## Text
House Bill 610
By: Representatives Reese of the 140th, Hugley of the 141st, Rice of the 139th, Buckner of the
137th, and Smith of the 138th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 44 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
redevelopment powers, so as to authorize acquisition of property interests by municipal
elected and appointed officials and employees in redevelopment areas with certain
conditions; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 44 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to redevelopment
powers, is amended by revising Code Section 36-44-21, relating to public employees and
officials prohibited from holding interest disclosures, voidability of prohibited transactions,
and misconduct in office, as follows:
"36-44-21.
(a) No elected or appointed official or employee of a political subdivision or a board,
commission, or redevelopment agency thereof shall voluntarily acquire any interest, direct
or indirect, in any property included or planned to be included in a redevelopment area, or
in any contract or transaction or proposed contract or transaction in connection with the
redevelopment of that redevelopment area. Where such acquisition is not voluntary, the
interest acquired shall be immediately disclosed without immediately disclosing such
interest in writing to the local legislative body and such disclosure shall be entered upon
the minutes of the local legislative body. Any such elected or appointed official or
employee who, within two years immediately prior to the date the plan is submitted to a
local legislative body under subsection (b) of Code Section 36-44-7, acquires ownership
or control of any interest, direct or indirect, in any property which is included in the
redevelopment area designated in that plan and who retains that ownership or control at the
time that such plan is so submitted shall, at least 30 days prior to the date scheduled for the
local legislative body to adopt the plan, disclose the interest in writing to the local
legislative body and such disclosure shall be entered upon the minutes of the local
legislative body, and that person shall not participate in any action by the political
subdivision, board, commission, or redevelopment agency thereof which affects that
property. Any disclosure required to be made by this subsection shall concurrently be
made to the redevelopment agency.
(b) Any contract or transaction in violation of subsection (a) of this Code section or the
disclosure of which is not made as provided in that subsection (a) of this Code section shall
be voidable by the local legislative body. This subsection shall not apply to any indenture,
agreement, contract, or transaction which constitutes security, direct or indirect, for
payment of bonds or other obligations incurred pursuant to a redevelopment plan, and the
judgment and order confirming and validating any such bonds or other obligations shall
constitute a final and conclusive adjudication as to any such security.
(c) Failure by an official or employee to comply with subsection (a) of this Code section
shall constitute misconduct in office."
SECTION 2.
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 610 would revise Georgia's redevelopment law to change how local elected officials, appointed officials, and employees must handle any personal property interest they hold or acquire inside a designated urban redevelopment area.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia's redevelopment law (O.C.G.A. § 36-44-21) already bars local elected officials, appointed officials, board and commission members, and employees of a redevelopment agency from voluntarily acquiring any personal stake in property or contracts tied to a redevelopment area. If someone acquires such an interest involuntarily, or already held one before a redevelopment plan was proposed, current law requires written disclosure to the local legislative body, entered into the meeting minutes.
House Bill 610 rewrites this Code section. It keeps the ban on voluntarily acquiring an interest in redevelopment-area property or contracts, keeps the disclosure requirement for involuntary or pre-existing interests, keeps the rule that undisclosed or violating contracts can be voided by the local legislative body, and keeps failure to disclose as misconduct in office. The bill also carries forward the two-year lookback period for prior property interests and the requirement to disclose to the redevelopment agency itself. There is no separate effective date section, so it would take effect under Georgia's standard rules once signed.
### What it does
- Revises O.C.G.A. § 36-44-21 to restate the rule barring elected officials, appointed officials, and employees of a political subdivision or redevelopment agency from voluntarily acquiring interests in redevelopment area property or contracts.
- Keeps in place a requirement that any involuntarily acquired interest be disclosed in writing to the local legislative body and recorded in its minutes.
- Preserves the two-year lookback rule requiring disclosure of any property interest an official held before a redevelopment plan was submitted, and bars that person from acting on matters affecting that property.
- Keeps the provision allowing the local legislative body to void any contract made in violation of the disclosure rules, with an exception for bonds or other financing obligations.
- Retains the rule that failing to comply with the disclosure requirement counts as misconduct in office.
- Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this section.
### Who it affects
Municipal elected officials, appointed board and commission members, and employees who work for a city, county, or a local redevelopment agency and who own or might acquire property or contract interests inside a designated redevelopment area.
### Why it matters
The bill governs how local officials must handle personal financial ties to property inside redevelopment zones, an area where conflicts of interest could otherwise let insiders profit from public redevelopment decisions. Continued disclosure and voidability rules affect how transparent local redevelopment dealings must be.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 revises Code Section 36-44-21, which covers disqualification and disclosure rules for officials and employees with interests in redevelopment areas.
- Subsection (a) bars voluntary acquisition of property or contract interests in a redevelopment area by covered officials and employees and requires written disclosure of involuntary acquisitions to the local legislative body.
- Subsection (a) also requires disclosure of any interest acquired within two years before a redevelopment plan was submitted, and bars that person from participating in decisions affecting that property.
- Subsection (b) makes contracts entered into without required disclosure voidable by the local legislative body, except for bond or debt security arrangements.
- Subsection (c) states that failing to comply with the disclosure requirement is misconduct in office.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting Georgia laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-24)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-27)
- Sponsors: Teddy Reese, Carolyn Hugley, Carmen Rice, Debbie Buckner, Vance Smith
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70738
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb610.md?full=1