Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 857: Cobb County; State Court; chief deputy clerk and clerk; change salary
Last action May 11, 2026 · Effective Date
A Georgia House bill raises the salaries of the clerk and chief deputy clerk of the State Court of Cobb County, setting them at $150,000 and $135,000 per year respectively.
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
This bill amends the 1964 law that created the State Court of Cobb County, which has been updated several times since, most recently in 2023. It changes the pay for two court staff positions: the clerk and the chief deputy clerk. Under the bill, the chief deputy clerk's salary is set at $135,000 a year, paid monthly from Cobb County funds. The clerk's salary is set at $150,000 a year, also paid in equal monthly installments from county funds. The bill repeals any conflicting laws. It does not change the duties of either office, only the pay rates written into the law that governs the State Court of Cobb County.
What the bill does
- Sets the chief deputy clerk of the State Court of Cobb County's salary at $135,000 a year, paid monthly from county funds.
- Sets the clerk of the State Court of Cobb County's salary at $150,000 a year, paid monthly from county funds.
- Repeals any prior laws or parts of laws that conflict with these new salary figures.
Who it affects
This bill directly affects the clerk and chief deputy clerk of the State Court of Cobb County, whose salaries it sets, and Cobb County government, which pays those salaries out of county funds.
Why it matters
The bill changes how much two specific Cobb County court employees are paid, funded by the county rather than the state. It affects Cobb County's budget obligations for these two positions and the compensation those officeholders receive going forward.
Key provisions
- Section 1 revises paragraph (4) of subsection (b) of Section 17 of the 1964 Act to set the chief deputy clerk's salary at $135,000 annually.
- Section 2 revises Section 23 of the 1964 Act to set the clerk's annual salary at $150,000, paid monthly from Cobb County funds.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“The salary of the chief deputy clerk shall be $135,000.00 to be paid in equal monthly installments from funds of Cobb County.”
“The clerk of the State Court of Cobb County shall receive an annual salary of $150,000.00 payable in equal monthly installments from the funds of Cobb County.”
Discussed in meetings (1)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 522
- House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- House Sent to Governor (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Recommitted (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
Show full history (15 actions)
- 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)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Terry Cummings (D, HD-39)
- Lisa Campbell (D, HD-35)
- Devan Seabaugh (R, HD-34)
- Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-61)
- Jordan Ridley (R, HD-22)
- John Carson (R, HD-46)
Votes
- House voteMarch 31, 2025
165 yea, 0 nay (10 not voting, 5 excused)
- Senate voteFebruary 26, 2026
48 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 2 excused)
Topics
- Cobb County government
- court clerk salaries
- local legislation
- state court