House Bill 678
By: Representatives Hilton of the 48th, Silcox of the 53rd, Carpenter of the 4th, Crowe of the
118th, LaHood of the 175th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 80 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
general provisions applicable to counties, municipal corporations, and other government
entities, so as to provide that authorities with less than state-wide jurisdiction shall have the
same sovereign immunities as provided to counties; to provide a definition; to provide that
officers and employees of such authorities in the conduct of their official duties shall have
the same official immunities as provided to officers and employees of a county performing
duties on behalf of such county; to provide for legislative intent; to provide limitations on the
amounts and types of damages and interest recoverable against an authority; to provide for
applicability; 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 80 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general
provisions applicable to counties, municipal corporations, and other government entities, is
amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
<ins>"36-80-32.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term 'authority' means any:
(1) Instrumentality of the state or a county, municipality, or a joint undertaking thereof
that has less than state-wide jurisdiction and was created to fulfill a specialized public
purpose; or
(2) Other legally created organization that has authority to issue debt for a public purpose
independent of the state, a county, or municipality with less than state-wide jurisdiction,
regardless of whether such instrumentality or organization was created by a local
constitutional amendment, general law, or local law.
(b) An authority shall be deemed to be providing a public service and exercising public
duties and, notwithstanding any provisions of an authority's enabling legislation to the
contrary, shall have the same sovereign immunity and exemption from liability for torts
and negligence as a county, and the officers, agents, and employees of such authority when
in the performance of the work of the authority shall have the same immunity and
exemption from liability for torts and negligence as the officers, agents, and employees of
a county when in the performance of their public duties or work of the county.
(c) It is the specific intent of the General Assembly that tort claims against authorities shall
be subject to the limitations on liability of the state found in Article 2 of Chapter 21 of
Title 50, 'The Georgia Tort Claims Act.' In any civil action or claim for damages brought
against an authority, no claimant shall recover a sum exceeding $1 million from any single
authority because of a loss arising from a single occurrence; and any single authority's
aggregate liability per occurrence shall not exceed $3 million. The existence of these caps
on liability shall not be disclosed or suggested to the jury during the trial of any action
brought against an authority.
(d) No award for damages against an authority shall include punitive or exemplary
damages or interest prior to judgment.
</ins>
<ins>(e) In cases where judgment is obtained against an authority, the judgment shall bear
interest from the date judgment is entered at the rate of 7 percent per annum; provided,
however, that any recovery of interest shall be included within the applicable aggregate
amount per occurrence as set forth in this Code section.
(f) Trial of tort claims against an authority shall be conducted by a judge with a jury;
provided, however, that the parties may agree that the same be tried by a judge without a
jury.
(g) The provisions of this Code section shall only apply to acts or omissions occurring on
or after July 1, 2025.
(h) This Code section shall not be construed as a waiver of immunity as required by
Article IX, Section II, Paragraph IX of the Constitution of the State of Georgia. Any such
waiver must be pled and proven by the claimant as provided by law."
</ins> SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.