Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 797: Homelessness Prevention Act of Chatham County; enact
Last action May 1, 2025 · Effective Date
House Bill 797 creates the Interagency Council on Homelessness for Chatham-Savannah, a new public corporation with a 21-member board to coordinate homelessness services, funding, and data systems across Chatham County and Savannah.
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
Chatham County and Savannah already have organizations working on homelessness, including the Chatham-Savannah Authority for the Homeless, which serves as the area's federally required continuum of care. This bill formally establishes a separate public corporation, the Interagency Council on Homelessness for Chatham-Savannah, to serve as the board that coordinates that continuum of care's planning, funding applications, and data systems under federal Housing and Urban Development rules. The council would be run by a 21-member board including the Savannah city manager, Chatham County manager, heads of local transit and housing authorities, state agency representatives, community members (including someone who has experienced homelessness), and the executive director of the existing Authority for the Homeless. The bill grants the council broad corporate powers, such as owning property, contracting, suing and being sued, and it exempts the council's property and income from state and local taxes. Lawsuits against the council must be filed in Chatham County Superior Court.
What the bill does
- Creates the Interagency Council on Homelessness for Chatham-Savannah as a public corporation and instrumentality of the state, separate from existing homelessness organizations.
- Establishes a 21-member board of directors combining local officials, state agency representatives, and public members, serving three-year terms with a two-term limit.
- Grants the council broad corporate powers including contracting, owning and leasing property, accepting grants and gifts, and suing or being sued like a private corporation.
- Exempts the council's property, income, and activities from all state and local taxes and assessments.
- Requires an independent audit of the council in any year it receives or spends money without using a fiscal agent.
- Directs that any lawsuit against the council be filed exclusively in the Superior Court of Chatham County.
Who it affects
People experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Chatham County and Savannah, the Chatham-Savannah Authority for the Homeless, city and county government officials, several state agencies including the Departments of Corrections, Labor, Public Health, and Community Affairs, and local nonprofit and housing organizations that serve homeless residents.
Why it matters
The new council would centralize decisions about federal homelessness funding, data collection, and coordinated services for Chatham County and Savannah under one legally recognized board, which could affect how quickly and consistently local agencies respond to homelessness and how federal Housing and Urban Development money is distributed.
Key provisions
- Section 4 creates the council as a body corporate and politic, distinct from prior entities, exercising governmental and proprietary powers of the state.
- Section 5 sets the 21-member board composition, including specific city, county, transit, and housing authority officials, nine agency-nominated members, and six public members.
- Section 6 opens general membership in the council to anyone living or working in Chatham County, to be broadly representative of homeless service sectors.
- Section 7 lists the council's powers, including contracting, property transactions without standard public bidding requirements, and accepting federal or private grants.
- Section 8 requires the board to act as trustees and mandates an independent audit in years the council handles money without a fiscal agent.
- Section 9 declares the council a purely public charity performing an essential governmental function and exempts it from taxes and assessments.
- Section 10 requires lawsuits against the council to be filed in the Superior Court of Chatham County.
- Section 12 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“There is created a body corporate and politic to be known as the "Interagency Council on Homelessness for Chatham-Savannah" which shall be deemed to be a public corporation.”
“The council shall not be required to pay any taxes or assessments upon any of the property acquired or leased by it or under its jurisdiction, control, possession, or supervision”
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 50
- 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
- Jesse Petrea (R, HD-166)
- Ron Stephens (R, HD-164)
- Carl Gilliard (D, HD-162)
- Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
Votes
- House voteMarch 27, 2025
164 yea, 0 nay (12 not voting, 4 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 31, 2025
49 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 2 excused)
Topics
- homelessness services
- Chatham County government
- Savannah local government
- public corporations
- housing assistance