Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 941: Tift County; Probate Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee
Last action May 11, 2026 · Effective Date
A House bill would let the Probate Court of Tift County charge a technology fee of up to $5 on civil filings and up to $5 on fines, with the fee ending in 2036.
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 applies only to Tift County. It authorizes the clerk of the Probate Court of Tift County to charge a technology fee, set by the probate judge, of no more than $5 for filing each civil action and no more than $5 as a surcharge added to any fine the court imposes. The money collected must be kept in a separate account, audited by an auditor approved by Tift County's governing authority, and can only be spent on the court's technology needs, such as buying or leasing computer hardware and software, imaging and printing equipment, and converting paper court records into digital files. The authority to collect this fee ends on July 1, 2036, and any money left in the account at that point stays dedicated to general Tift County technology purposes.
What the bill does
- Authorizes the Tift County Probate Court clerk to charge a technology fee of up to $5 per civil filing.
- Authorizes an additional surcharge of up to $5 on each fine assessed by the Tift County Probate Court.
- Restricts use of the collected fees to specific technology purchases, leases, maintenance, and digitizing court records.
- Requires the fee revenue to be kept in a separate, audited account controlled by the probate court clerk.
- Sets July 1, 2036 as the date the fee authority ends, with leftover funds going to general Tift County technology uses.
Who it affects
People who file civil actions in the Tift County Probate Court and people who are fined by that court, since both groups would pay the new fee. It also affects the probate court clerk, the probate judge, and Tift County's governing authority, which oversees the required audits.
Why it matters
Anyone filing a civil case or paying a fine through the Tift County Probate Court would pay a small added cost, capped at $5 per fee type. In exchange, the court gains a dedicated funding source for computers, digital record-keeping, and other equipment upgrades.
Key provisions
- Section 1(a) sets the fee amounts, capping each at $5.00, and lists the four allowed technology uses: hardware and software purchases, equipment leasing and maintenance, imaging and printing equipment, and digitizing court records.
- Section 1(b) requires the fee money to be held in a segregated account and audited by an auditor approved by Tift County's governing authority.
- Section 1(c) ends the fee authority on July 1, 2036 and directs any remaining balance toward general Tift County technology uses.
- Section 2 repeals any existing laws that conflict with this Act.
From the bill
“a technology fee to be set by the judge of the probate court in an amount not to exceed $5.00 for the filing of each civil action with the court and not to exceed $5.00 as a surcharge upon each fine assessed by the court”
“The authority to assess the technology fee pursuant to this Act shall terminate on July 1, 2036, and any residual funds remaining in the account established by subsection (b) of this section shall remain dedicated to general Tift County technology uses.”
Discussed in meetings (5)
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.
House floor session, February 6, 2026 (legislative day 14)
From 0:54:41 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 428
Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk read a committee recommendation to pass HB 941 and later identified it as a Tift County bill on the uncontested local calendar. There was no separate presentation or debate. The House passed it with the other local bills in a single vote of 165 to 0.
- Read aloud: House floor session, January 13, 2026 (legislative day 2), 0:47:20
- Read aloud: House floor session, January 14, 2026 (legislative day 3), 0:52:35
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 9, 2026 (legislative day 15), 0:25:11
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 17, 2026 (legislative day 19), 0:34:30
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 530
- 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
- Jaclyn Ford (R, HD-170)
- Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)
Votes
- House voteFebruary 6, 2026
165 yea, 0 nay (7 not voting, 5 excused)
- Senate voteFebruary 17, 2026
48 yea, 1 nay (2 not voting, 3 excused)
Topics
- Tift County government
- probate court fees
- local court funding
- court technology