SB 14: Elections; the nonpartisan election of district attorneys and solicitors-general of state courts; authorize the General Assembly

Under current Georgia law, district attorneys and solicitors-general of state courts are elected in partisan elections, while certain other local offices like county judges, school board members, and consolidated government officials can be elected on a nonpartisan basis if the General Assembly passes a local law allowing it. This bill adds district attorneys and solicitors-general to the list of offices that can be switched to nonpartisan elections through a local act. The bill changes two sections of Georgia's election code (O.C.G.A. §§ 21-2-132 and 21-2-139). It updates the candidate qualifying procedures so that district attorney and solicitor-general candidates follow the same filing deadlines and process as other nonpartisan candidates once a local act creating a nonpartisan election exists for that office. The bill does not itself convert any specific circuit or county to nonpartisan elections; it only gives the General Assembly the legal authority to do so through future local legislation.

• Adds the office of district attorney to the list of offices that may be elected nonpartisanly once a local act is enacted for that judicial circuit.
• Adds the office of solicitor-general of a state court to the offices eligible for nonpartisan election under a local act.
• Updates candidate qualifying rules (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-132) to set filing procedures for district attorney and solicitor-general candidates in nonpartisan elections.
• Revises O.C.G.A. § 21-2-139 to authorize the General Assembly to pass local acts creating nonpartisan elections for these two offices, alongside existing offices like county judges and school boards.
• Repeals any conflicting state laws.

District attorneys and solicitors-general of state courts, candidates seeking those offices, the Georgia Secretary of State's office and county election superintendents who administer qualifying, and voters in judicial circuits or counties where the General Assembly later passes a local act adopting nonpartisan elections for these offices.

If the General Assembly later passes local acts using this new authority, voters in affected circuits or counties could see district attorney and solicitor-general races appear on nonpartisan ballots instead of partisan ones, changing how candidates qualify and how party affiliation factors into these races.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 21-2-132(c)(1)-(2) to add district attorney candidates (where a local act creates a nonpartisan election) and solicitor-general of state court candidates to the nonpartisan candidate filing procedures.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 21-2-139(a) to explicitly authorize the General Assembly to pass local acts establishing nonpartisan elections for district attorney and solicitor-general of the state court, alongside existing eligible offices.
• Section 2 also updates language so nonpartisan election procedures apply based on the judicial circuit, county, or political subdivision that elects the office.
• Section 3 repeals any state laws that conflict with the bill's changes.

1. 2025-01-16Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-01-15Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Ed Setzler (R, SD-037)Primary sponsor
• Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)

• election rules
• district attorneys
• nonpartisan elections
• state courts
• judicial elections