---
title: HB 818. Georgia Judicial Retirement System; membership for each judge employed full time in the Georgia Tax Court; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb818
cite_as: HB 818, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb818
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb818.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb818/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71558
date: 2026-03-25
status: engrossed
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 569
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb818.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 818
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-17
last_action: Senate Read Second Time
sponsors:
- Charles Martin
- Rob Leverett
- Stan Gunter
- Shaw Blackmon
- Stacey Evans
- Shawn Still
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB818/2025
upstream_id: 2012780
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- judicial retirement
- Georgia Tax Court
- public pensions
- state employee benefits
---
# HB 818. Georgia Judicial Retirement System; membership for each judge employed full time in the Georgia Tax Court; provide
## Text
House Bill 818
By: Representatives Martin of the 49th, Leverett of the 123rd, Gunter of the 8th, Blackmon of
the 146th, and Evans of the 57th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 23 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the
Georgia Judicial Retirement System, so as to provide for membership in the system for each
judge employed full time in the Georgia Tax Court; to provide for creditable service; to
provide for transfer of funds; to provide for transfer of membership service; to provide for
payments of full actuarial costs; to provide for all other individuals employed by the court;
to provide for earnable monthly compensation for purposes of contributions and benefit
amounts; to provide for related matters; to provide conditions for an effective date and
automatic repeal; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 23 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Georgia
Judicial Retirement System, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"47-23-51.
(a) 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.
(b) Each individual who becomes a member of this retirement system pursuant to this
Code section shall be eligible to transfer his or her creditable service from the Employees'
Retirement System of Georgia to this retirement system, provided that he or she notifies
the board of such election within one year of obtaining such membership and pays to the
retirement system the remaining amount necessary to pay for the full actuarial cost to the
retirement system associated with his or her transfer of service. Upon such election and
payment, the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia shall transfer to this retirement
system all employer and employee contributions paid by or on behalf of him or her together
with regular interest thereon, and 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 and for
which credit was allowable in such system.
(c) An individual who becomes a member of this retirement system pursuant to this Code
section shall be subject to all provisions of this chapter applicable to solicitors-general of
the state courts, except as otherwise specifically provided by this chapter. For the purposes
of this retirement system, for each such member, his or her earnable monthly compensation
shall be the full rate of regular monthly compensation paid from state funds to such
member employee for his or her full working time.
(d) All other individuals employed by the Georgia Tax Court established pursuant to
Article VI, Section I, Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution shall be treated in accordance
with the provisions of Code Section 47-2-70.1 for new state agencies."
SECTION 2.
Said chapter is further amended in subsection (a) of Code Section 47-23-100, relating to
salary defined, by striking "and" at the end of paragraph (5), replacing the period with "; and"
at the end of paragraph (6), and adding a new paragraph to read as follows:
"(7) For any person who is a member of the retirement system pursuant to Code
Section 47-23-51, his or her average earnable monthly compensation."
SECTION 3.
This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2026, only if it is determined to have been
concurrently funded as provided in Chapter 20 of Title 47 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, the "Public Retirement Systems Standards Law"; otherwise, this Act shall not
become effective and shall be automatically repealed in its entirety on July 1, 2026, as
required by subsection (a) of Code Section 47-20-50.
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## 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 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.
### Plain-language summary
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 it 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.
## Status
- Status: Engrossed (2026-02-17)
- Last action: Senate Read Second Time (2026-03-25)
- Sponsors: Charles Martin, Rob Leverett, Stan Gunter, Shaw Blackmon, Stacey Evans, Shawn Still
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71558
> The history, votes, and amendments (569 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb818.md?full=1