Georgia CommonsHB 818: Georgia Judicial Retirement System; membership for each judge employed full time in the Georgia Tax Court; provide
Last action March 25, 2026 · Senate Read Second Time
House Bill 818 would make full-time judges on the new Georgia Tax Court members of the Georgia Judicial Retirement System, letting them transfer prior state retirement service if they pay the full cost.
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 Introduced version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Georgia created a Tax Court under the state constitution, and this bill sets up how its judges and staff fit into the state's retirement system for judges. Starting July 1, 2026, each full-time judge on the Georgia Tax Court would automatically become a member of the Georgia Judicial Retirement System, the pension system that covers judges like solicitors-general of state courts. Judges could transfer creditable service they earned in the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia into the judicial system, but only if they notify the retirement board within one year and pay the full actuarial cost of that transfer themselves. Their retirement pay would be based on their full monthly state salary. Other Tax Court employees, who are not judges, would be covered under existing rules for new state agencies instead. The whole law only takes effect if state actuaries certify it is properly funded under Georgia's Public Retirement Systems Standards Law; if not, it automatically repeals itself on July 1, 2026.
What the bill does
- Automatically enrolls each full-time Georgia Tax Court judge in the Georgia Judicial Retirement System starting July 1, 2026.
- Allows those judges to transfer prior creditable service from the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia if they request it within one year and pay the full actuarial cost.
- Defines a judge's earnable monthly compensation for retirement purposes as their full regular state salary for full-time work.
- Places non-judge Tax Court employees under the existing retirement rules that apply to new state agencies instead.
- Adds Tax Court judges' compensation to the list of pay categories counted under the retirement system's salary definition (O.C.G.A. § 47-23-100).
- Makes the whole Act effective only if state officials certify it meets funding standards under the Public Retirement Systems Standards Law, or else it repeals itself automatically on July 1, 2026.
Who it affects
Full-time judges of the newly established Georgia Tax Court, other Tax Court staff who are not judges, the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia, and the Georgia Judicial Retirement System's board, which will manage new memberships, transfers, and contribution calculations.
Why it matters
Tax Court judges would gain access to the same pension system used by other Georgia judges, and could preserve retirement credit earned in prior state jobs if they pay for the transfer themselves. Whether this happens at all depends on a funding certification required by state law.
Key provisions
- Section 1 adds new Code Section 47-23-51, making full-time Georgia Tax Court judges members of the Georgia Judicial Retirement System as of July 1, 2026.
- Section 1(b) lets judges transfer creditable service from the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia within one year, if they pay the full actuarial cost of the transfer.
- Section 1(c) applies the same retirement rules used for state court solicitors-general to these judges and defines their earnable monthly compensation as their full state salary.
- Section 1(d) places non-judge Tax Court employees under the retirement provisions for new state agencies (O.C.G.A. § 47-2-70.1).
- Section 2 amends the salary definition in O.C.G.A. § 47-23-100 to include average earnable monthly compensation for these new members.
- Section 3 conditions the entire Act's effectiveness on a funding certification under the Public Retirement Systems Standards Law, with automatic repeal on July 1, 2026 if that certification fails.
From the bill
“On and after July 1, 2026, each individual employed full time as a judge in the Georgia Tax Court established by Article VI, Section I, Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution shall become a member of this retirement system.”
“he or she shall receive service in this retirement system toward vesting only in the full amount of the service he or she rendered as an employee while he or she was a member of the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia”
Status timeline
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
Show full history (9 actions)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Charles Martin (R, HD-049)
- Rob Leverett (R, HD-123)
- Stan Gunter (R, HD-008)
- Shaw Blackmon (R, HD-146)
- Stacey Evans (D, HD-057)
- Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
Votes
- House voteFebruary 17, 2026
158 yea, 2 nay (5 not voting, 10 absent)
Topics
- judicial retirement
- Georgia Tax Court
- public pensions
- state employee benefits