---
title: SB 216. Georgia Judicial Retirement System; membership in the system for individuals employed as the director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb216
cite_as: SB 216, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb216
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb216.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb216/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70557
date: 2026-05-11
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 953
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb216.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 216
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-05-11
last_action: Effective Date 2026-07-01
sponsors:
- Randy Robertson
- Blake Tillery
- Brian Strickland
- Max Burns
- Ed Setzler
- Billy Hickman
- Kay Kirkpatrick
- Chuck Payne
- Marty Harbin
- Russ Goodman
- Shawn Still
- Joseph Gullett
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB216/2025
upstream_id: 1976288
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- public employee pensions
- prosecuting attorneys
- state retirement systems
- judicial branch employees
---
# SB 216. Georgia Judicial Retirement System; membership in the system for individuals employed as the director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission; provide
## Text
Senate Bill 216
By: Senators Robertson of the 29th, Tillery of the 19th, Strickland of the 42nd, Burns of the
23rd, Setzler of the 37th and others
AS PASSED
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
individuals employed as the director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications
Commission; to provide for an election for such current employees; to provide for transfer
of funds; to provide for payment of actuarial costs; to provide for transfer of membership
service; to provide for earnable monthly compensation for purposes of contributions and
benefit amounts; to provide for applicability; 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:
"47-23-43.2.
(a) On and after July 1, 2026, each individual employed pursuant to subparagraph
(c)(2)(C) of Code Section 15-18-32 shall become a member of this retirement system;
provided, however, that each individual so employed as of June 30, 2026, who is not
already a member of this retirement system, shall remain a member of the Employees'
Retirement System of Georgia unless he or she elects to become a member of this
retirement system on or before June 30, 2027, notifies the board of such election, 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, such an individual shall become a member of this retirement system, 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.
(b) The provisions of this Code section shall only apply to or affect individuals who are
employed on or after July 1, 2026, pursuant to subparagraph (c)(2)(C) of Code Section
15-18-32. Members of this retirement system who are so employed 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."
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 member who is a member of the retirement system for whom the provisions
of Code Section 47-23-43.2 are applicable, 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.
Senate Bill 216 would let the director of Georgia's Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission join the Georgia Judicial Retirement System instead of the state employee retirement plan, starting July 1, 2026.
### Plain-language summary
Currently the director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, a state agency that investigates complaints against prosecutors, is a member of the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia like most state workers. This bill would move that position into the Georgia Judicial Retirement System (O.C.G.A. Chapter 23 of Title 47), the pension system used by judges and solicitors-general.
Anyone already holding the director job as of June 30, 2026 could choose to stay in the old system or switch to the new one by June 30, 2027, but switching requires paying the full actuarial cost of transferring their service credit. The bill also defines how the director's pay would count toward retirement contributions and benefits. The change only takes effect if state actuaries certify it is funded under Georgia's Public Retirement Systems Standards Law; otherwise the whole act is automatically repealed on July 1, 2026.
### What it does
- Creates a new Code section (47-23-43.2) making the director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission a member of the Georgia Judicial Retirement System starting July 1, 2026.
- Lets a current director who is already in the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia choose to switch to the judicial system by June 30, 2027, instead of being switched automatically.
- Requires anyone switching systems to pay the full actuarial cost of transferring their prior service credit, with funds moved between the two retirement systems.
- Applies the judicial retirement system's existing rules for solicitors-general to the director position, and sets how the director's monthly pay counts for contributions and benefits.
- Amends O.C.G.A. § 47-23-100 to add the director's average earnable monthly compensation as a form of salary counted under the retirement system.
- Makes the whole act conditional: it only takes effect if state actuaries confirm it is funded, otherwise it is automatically repealed on July 1, 2026.
### Who it affects
This bill directly affects the director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, both current and future holders of that position, and the two state pension systems involved: the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia and the Georgia Judicial Retirement System.
### Why it matters
For the person serving as the commission's director, this could mean a different retirement plan with different benefit calculations than most state employees receive. The funding condition means the change may never take effect if it is not certified as actuarially sound.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 adds Code Section 47-23-43.2, making the director position a member of the Georgia Judicial Retirement System on and after July 1, 2026.
- Section 1 lets a director employed as of June 30, 2026 keep their current retirement plan unless they elect to switch by June 30, 2027 and pay the full actuarial transfer cost.
- Section 1 states that upon transfer, service credit only counts toward vesting for time actually worked and creditable in the prior system.
- Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 47-23-100 to add average earnable monthly compensation as a defined form of salary for this member category.
- Section 3 makes the act effective July 1, 2026 only if certified as funded under the Public Retirement Systems Standards Law, otherwise it is automatically repealed that same date.
## Status
- Status: Passed (2026-05-11)
- Last action: Effective Date 2026-07-01 (2026-05-11)
- Sponsors: Randy Robertson, Blake Tillery, Brian Strickland, Max Burns, Ed Setzler, Billy Hickman, Kay Kirkpatrick, Chuck Payne, Marty Harbin, Russ Goodman, Shawn Still, Joseph Gullett
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70557
> The history, votes, and amendments (953 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb216.md?full=1