Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 748: Carroll County; change compensation of coroner
Last action July 1, 2025 · Effective Date
House Bill 748 would raise the annual base salary and expense allowance paid to the Carroll County coroner, updating a 1973 local law that sets the office's pay.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Carroll County's coroner is currently paid under a 1973 state law that set the office's salary, last updated in 1997. This bill rewrites that section to set a new annual base salary of $43,620.00 for the coroner, paid monthly from county funds, plus a yearly expense allowance of $3,100.00, also paid monthly under conditions set by the county governing authority. The bill also states that these amounts will keep getting annual adjustments going forward, using the formula already laid out in Georgia's local officials' pay law (O.C.G.A. § 36-5-28). The change would take effect July 1, 2025, and the bill repeals any conflicting laws.
What the bill does
- Sets the Carroll County coroner's annual base salary at $43,620.00, paid monthly from county funds.
- Sets a separate annual expense allowance of $3,100.00 for the coroner, paid monthly under conditions the county governing authority may set.
- Ties future pay changes to the annual adjustment formula in O.C.G.A. § 36-5-28 rather than requiring a new local law each time.
- Sets the effective date of the new salary as July 1, 2025.
- Repeals any prior laws that conflict with the new pay arrangement.
Who it affects
The bill directly affects the coroner of Carroll County, whose pay and benefits it sets, and the Carroll County governing authority, which administers the salary and expense payments from county funds.
Why it matters
For Carroll County, this determines exactly how much its coroner is paid each year and how that pay will adjust over time, affecting the county budget and the compensation of the person responsible for investigating deaths in the county.
Key provisions
- Section 1 rewrites Section 2 of the 1973 Carroll County coroner salary Act to set the new base salary and expense allowance figures.
- Section 1 also applies the automatic annual adjustment mechanism under O.C.G.A. § 36-5-28 to future increases.
- Section 2 sets the effective date of the changes as July 1, 2025.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“The coroner of Carroll County shall receive an annual base salary of $43,620.00, payable monthly from county funds.”
“The coroner shall also receive an expense allowance of $3,100.00 per year, payable monthly from county funds under such conditions as the county governing authority may provide.”
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 166
- House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- House Sent to Governor (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
Show full history (13 actions)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Tyler Paul Smith (R, HD-18)
- Lynn Smith (R, HD-70)
- David Huddleston (R, HD-72)
- Jutt Howard (R, HD-71)
Votes
- House voteMarch 21, 2025
158 yea, 0 nay (9 not voting, 13 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 28, 2025
53 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 2 excused)
Topics
- Carroll County government
- coroner salary
- local legislation
- county officials pay