--- title: SB 346. DeKalb County; the compensation of certain judges, judicial officers, and county officers; revise collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb346 cite_as: SB 346, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb346 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb346.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb346/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71480 date: 2026-03-27 status: introduced 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/sb345.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb347.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 203 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb346.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 346 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-03-19 last_action: Senate Tabled sponsors: - Kim Jackson text_version: Comm Sub has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB346/2025 upstream_id: 2011443 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - DeKalb County government - judicial salaries - county officials pay - local legislation --- # SB 346. DeKalb County; the compensation of certain judges, judicial officers, and county officers; revise ## Text Senators Jackson of the 41st, Parent of the 44th, Harrell of the 40th, Anderson of the 43rd, Mangham of the 55th and others offered the following substitute to SB 346: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act providing for the compensation of certain county officers and officials of DeKalb County, approved March 31, 1976 (Ga. L. 1976, p. 3986), as amended, so as to revise the compensation of certain judges, judicial officers, and county officers; to make conforming changes related to court names changed by general law; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. An Act providing for the compensation of certain county officers and officials of DeKalb County, approved March 31, 1976 (Ga. L. 1976, p. 3986), as amended, is amended by revising Section 1 as follows: "SECTION 1. As used in this Act, the term 'gross salary' shall mean the higher of $218,990.30 or the highest annual salary provided to any Superior Court judge from State funds." SECTION 2. Said Act is further amended by adding a new section to read as follows: "SECTION 1.2. Pursuant to Section 1 of an Act to amend Article 1 of Chapter 6 of Title 15 of the O.C.G.A., relating to general provisions regarding superior courts, approved May 6, 2024 (Ga. L. 2024, p. 738), as of January 1, 2025, the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit shall be known and may be referred to as the DeKalb Judicial Circuit. Any reference in this Act to the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit shall be deemed to refer to the DeKalb Judicial Circuit." SECTION 3. Said Act is further amended by revising Sections 2 and 2.1 as follows: "SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, the annual salary of each of the officials of DeKalb County listed below shall be the following percentages of the gross salary as defined in Section 1: (1) Chief Executive Officer......................................................................................100% (2) Sheriff.................................................................................................................100% (3) Clerk of the Superior Court.................................................................................80% (4) Tax Commissioner...............................................................................................75% (5) Members of the Board of Commissioners..............................................................32% SECTION 2.1. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, the annual salary of each judge of the State Court of DeKalb County, the Chief Magistrate of DeKalb County, the judge of the Probate Court of DeKalb County, each judge of the Juvenile Court of DeKalb County, and the Solicitor-General of DeKalb County shall be the higher of $208,040.00 or 90 percent of the gross salary as defined in Section 1 of this Act." SECTION 4. Said Act is further amended by repealing and reserving paragraphs (1) through (4) of Section 3, revising Section 3.1, and adding a new section to read as follows: "SECTION 3.1. (a) Each full-time associate magistrate of DeKalb County shall receive an annual salary equal to 90 percent of the annual salary provided in this Act paid to the Chief Magistrate of DeKalb County. (b) Each part-time associate magistrate of DeKalb County shall be paid an hourly rate commensurate with the annual salary provided in this Act paid to a full-time associate magistrate of DeKalb County. SECTION 3.2. The annual salaries provided in this Act shall be paid in equal monthly installments from funds of DeKalb County." SECTION 5. 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. A Senate bill would raise the base salary figure used to calculate pay for DeKalb County judges and officials, and update references to the renamed DeKalb Judicial Circuit. ### Plain-language summary DeKalb County officials' pay is set as a percentage of a 'gross salary' figure defined in a 1976 state law. This bill raises that base figure to the higher of $218,990.30 or the highest salary paid to any Superior Court judge from state funds. Because many county officials' salaries are calculated as a percentage of this gross salary figure, raising it increases their pay as well. The bill also updates the law to reflect that the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit is now officially called the DeKalb Judicial Circuit, so old references in the compensation law still apply correctly. It sets the pay for judges of the State Court, Probate Court, and Juvenile Court, the Chief Magistrate, and the Solicitor-General at the higher of $208,040.00 or 90 percent of the gross salary. It also spells out how full-time and part-time associate magistrates are paid, and confirms salaries are paid monthly from county funds. ### What it does - Raises the 'gross salary' baseline used to calculate DeKalb County officials' pay to the higher of $218,990.30 or the top state-funded Superior Court judge salary. - Adds language clarifying that the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit is now legally called the DeKalb Judicial Circuit for purposes of this compensation law. - Sets pay for the Chief Executive Officer and Sheriff at 100% of the gross salary, the Clerk of Superior Court at 80%, the Tax Commissioner at 75%, and county commissioners at 32%. - Sets pay for the State Court judge, Chief Magistrate, Probate Court judge, Juvenile Court judges, and Solicitor-General at the higher of $208,040.00 or 90% of the gross salary. - Sets associate magistrate pay at 90% of the Chief Magistrate's salary for full-time associate magistrates, and an equivalent hourly rate for part-time associate magistrates. - Confirms that all salaries under this Act are paid monthly from DeKalb County funds. ### Who it affects DeKalb County's Chief Executive Officer, Sheriff, Clerk of the Superior Court, Tax Commissioner, Board of Commissioners members, State Court judges, the Chief Magistrate and associate magistrates, the Probate Court judge, Juvenile Court judges, and the Solicitor-General all see their pay affected by this bill. ### Why it matters Because these officials' salaries are pegged as percentages of the gross salary figure, raising that baseline increases pay across many DeKalb County offices at once, funded through county funds, without each office's salary being separately debated or set. ### Key provisions - Section 1 redefines 'gross salary' as the higher of $218,990.30 or the highest state-funded Superior Court judge salary, the figure used to calculate many other officials' pay. - Section 2 adds a new provision clarifying that references to the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit now mean the DeKalb Judicial Circuit, following a 2024 statewide renaming law. - Section 3 sets specific percentage-of-gross-salary pay rates for the Chief Executive Officer, Sheriff, Clerk of Superior Court, Tax Commissioner, and county commissioners, and sets the higher of $208,040.00 or 90% for several judges and the Solicitor-General. - Section 4 repeals paragraphs (1) through (4) of Section 3 and sets associate magistrate pay at 90% of the Chief Magistrate's salary (full-time) or a proportional hourly rate (part-time). - Section 5 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-03-19) - Last action: Senate Tabled (2026-03-27) - Sponsors: Kim Jackson - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71480 > The history, votes, and amendments (203 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb346.md?full=1