--- title: HR 251. Local government; probate judges shall be elected in nonpartisan elections; provide - CA collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hr251 cite_as: HR 251, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr251 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr251.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr251/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70279 date: 2026-05-12 status: passed 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr250.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr252.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 1546 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr251.md?full=1 bill_number: HR 251 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: resolution status_date: 2026-05-12 last_action: Effective Date 2026-07-01 sponsors: - Kimberly New - Chuck Efstration - James Burchett - Tyler Smith - Mitchell Scoggins - Holt Persinger - Brian Strickland text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HR251/2025 upstream_id: 1968120 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - probate judges - nonpartisan elections - constitutional amendment - Georgia courts - ballot referendum --- # HR 251. Local government; probate judges shall be elected in nonpartisan elections; provide - CA ## Text House Resolution 251 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives New of the 40th, Efstration of the 104th, Burchett of the 176th, Smith of the 18th, Scoggins of the 14th, and others A RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution so as to provide that all probate judges shall be elected in nonpartisan elections; to provide for related matters; to provide for submission of this amendment for ratification or rejection; and for other purposes. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Article VI, Section VII of the Constitution is amended in Paragraph I by revising subparagraph (a) as follows: "(a) All superior court and state court judges shall be elected on a nonpartisan basis for a term of four years. All Justices of the Supreme Court and the Judges of the Court of Appeals shall be elected on a nonpartisan basis for a term of six years. The terms of all judges thus elected shall begin the next January 1 after their election. All probate judges shall be elected on a nonpartisan basis for terms as provided for in Article IX, Section I, Paragraph III. All other judges shall continue to be selected in the manner and for the term they were selected on June 30, 1983, until otherwise provided by local law." SECTION 2. The above proposed amendment to the Constitution shall be published and submitted as provided in Article X, Section I, Paragraph II of the Constitution. The ballot submitting the above proposed amendment shall have written or printed thereon the following: "( ) YES Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to require that all probate ( ) NO court judges be elected in nonpartisan elections?" All persons desiring to vote in favor of ratifying the proposed amendment shall vote "Yes." All persons desiring to vote against ratifying the proposed amendment shall vote "No." If such amendment shall be ratified as provided in said Paragraph of the Constitution, it shall become a part of the Constitution of this state. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia House resolution would ask voters to amend the state constitution so that all probate judges are elected in nonpartisan elections, matching the rules already used for superior and state court judges. ### Plain-language summary Currently, Georgia's Constitution requires superior court and state court judges, as well as Supreme Court Justices and Court of Appeals judges, to be elected on a nonpartisan basis, but it does not set the same rule for probate judges, who currently may run with party labels in some counties. This resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that would add probate judges to the list of judges who must be elected without party affiliation. The resolution does not change probate judges' terms of office, which would still be set under a separate part of the Constitution (Article IX, Section I, Paragraph III). Because it is a constitutional amendment, it cannot take effect on its own. It must go to Georgia voters on a statewide ballot, worded as a yes or no question, and only becomes part of the Constitution if voters ratify it. ### What it does - Amends Article VI, Section VII, Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution to add probate judges to the group of judges who must be elected on a nonpartisan basis. - Leaves probate judges' terms of office governed by the existing rules in Article IX, Section I, Paragraph III rather than changing them. - Requires the proposed amendment to be submitted to Georgia voters for ratification or rejection rather than taking effect automatically. - Specifies the exact ballot question voters will see, asking whether all probate court judges should be elected in nonpartisan elections. ### Who it affects Sitting and future probate judges in Georgia's counties, candidates running for probate judge, political parties that currently nominate probate judge candidates, and Georgia voters, who would decide the outcome in a statewide ballot referendum. ### Why it matters If voters approve this amendment, probate judge elections statewide would drop party labels from the ballot, similar to how superior and state court judges are already elected. This would change how candidates campaign and how voters choose among them in every Georgia county. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises Article VI, Section VII, Paragraph I(a) of the Constitution to add that all probate judges shall be elected on a nonpartisan basis. - Section 1 ties probate judges' terms of office to the terms already set out in Article IX, Section I, Paragraph III, leaving those terms unchanged. - Section 2 requires the amendment to be published and submitted to voters under the constitutional process in Article X, Section I, Paragraph II. - Section 2 sets the specific ballot language voters will see, framed as a yes or no question on nonpartisan probate judge elections. - Section 2 states the amendment becomes part of the Constitution only if ratified by voters as provided in that Paragraph. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-05-12) - Last action: Effective Date 2026-07-01 (2026-05-12) - Sponsors: Kimberly New, Chuck Efstration, James Burchett, Tyler Smith, Mitchell Scoggins, Holt Persinger, Brian Strickland - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70279 > The history, votes, and amendments (1,546 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr251.md?full=1