--- title: HB 637. Cobb County; board of commissioners; revise a requirement for public hearings collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb637 cite_as: HB 637, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb637 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb637.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb637/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70828 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/hb636.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb638.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 884 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb637.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 637 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: - Terry Cummings - Sharon Cooper - David Wilkerson - Michael Smith - Lisa Campbell - Mary Williams text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB637/2025 upstream_id: 1986059 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - Cobb County government - local government spending - public hearings - county consultants --- # HB 637. Cobb County; board of commissioners; revise a requirement for public hearings ## Text 25 LC 44 3064/AP House Bill 637 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Cummings of the 39th, Cooper of the 45th, Wilkerson of the 38th, Smith of the 41st, Campbell of the 35th, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act to amend an Act creating the board of commissio ners for Cobb County,1 Georgia, approved April 4, 1991 (Ga. L. 1991, p. 4492), as amen ded, so as to revise a2 requirement for public hearings before the commission is author ized to spend over3 $100,000.00 to employ an independent consultant or conduct an i ndependent study; to4 provide for other related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:6 SECTION 1.7 An Act to amend an Act creating the board of commissioners for Cobb County, Georgia,8 approved April 4, 1991 (Ga. L. 1991, p. 4492), as amended, is a mended by revising9 Section 11A as follows:10 "Section 11A.11 Before the commission expends county funds of $200,000.00 or mo re to employ an12 independent consultant or consulting firm or to conduct an independent study or survey,13 it shall hold a public hearing thereon. At least 15 days' notice of the time and place of the14 hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. Consultants15 H. B. 637 - 1 - 25 LC 44 3064/AP to be used in support of construction or renovation projects sh all be exempt from this16 section."17 SECTION 2.18 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.19 H. B. 637 - 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 637 raises, from $100,000 to $200,000, the spending threshold that triggers a required public hearing before the Cobb County Board of Commissioners hires an outside consultant or orders an independent study. ### Plain-language summary Cobb County's governing charter currently requires the county commission to hold a public hearing before spending $100,000 or more of county funds to hire an independent consultant or conduct an independent study. House Bill 637 amends that local Act to raise the threshold to $200,000, meaning smaller expenditures would no longer trigger the public hearing requirement. The bill keeps the existing notice rule: at least 15 days' notice of the hearing's time and place must still be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county whenever a hearing is required. It also keeps the existing exemption for consultants used in support of construction or renovation projects, who remain excused from the hearing requirement regardless of cost. The bill repeals any conflicting laws. ### What it does - Raises the dollar threshold for county spending on independent consultants or studies that triggers a required public hearing, from $100,000.00 to $200,000.00. - Keeps the requirement that at least 15 days' notice of any such hearing be published in a newspaper of general circulation in Cobb County. - Preserves the existing exemption for consultants used in support of construction or renovation projects from the public hearing requirement. - Repeals any prior laws that conflict with this change. ### Who it affects The Cobb County Board of Commissioners, county residents who track local government spending, consulting firms seeking county contracts, and local newspapers that publish required legal notices are all touched by this change. ### Why it matters Because the hearing trigger rises to $200,000, the commission could approve more consultant or study contracts without holding a public hearing first, reducing the number of spending decisions subject to advance public notice and comment. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises Section 11A of the 1991 Cobb County commission Act, changing the hearing-trigger amount from $100,000.00 to $200,000.00 for spending on independent consultants, consulting firms, or independent studies or surveys. - Section 1 retains the requirement of at least 15 days' published notice in a local newspaper before any required hearing. - Section 1 retains the exemption for consultants supporting construction or renovation projects from the hearing requirement. - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-13) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-05-13 (2025-05-13) - Sponsors: Terry Cummings, Sharon Cooper, David Wilkerson, Michael Smith, Lisa Campbell, Mary Williams - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70828 > The history, votes, and amendments (884 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb637.md?full=1