Georgia CommonsSenate · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
SB 350: DeKalb County; certain judges, judicial officers, and county officers; revise the compensation
Last action May 12, 2026 · Effective Date
A DeKalb County bill raises the base salary figure used to calculate pay for the county's chief executive, sheriff, district attorney, judges, and other officials, and updates references to the renamed DeKalb Judicial Circuit.
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
DeKalb County's officer pay is set by a 1976 law that ties many officials' salaries to a 'gross salary' figure, defined as either a fixed dollar amount or the highest salary paid to a Superior Court judge from state funds, whichever is higher. This bill raises that fixed dollar floor from its previous amount to $218,990.30. It also adds a new section clarifying that the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit is now called the DeKalb Judicial Circuit under a 2024 statewide law, and that any reference in the older pay law to the Stone Mountain circuit now means the DeKalb circuit. The bill restates the percentage-of-gross-salary formulas for the Chief Executive Officer, District Attorney, Sheriff, Clerk of Superior Court, Tax Commissioner, and County Commissioners, and sets a $208,040.00 floor (or 90 percent of gross salary) for several judges and the Solicitor-General. It also keeps rules for magistrate pay and monthly installment payments from county funds.
What the bill does
- Raises the fixed dollar floor used to define 'gross salary' for DeKalb County officials to $218,990.30, or the highest Superior Court judge salary paid from state funds if that is higher.
- Adds a new section renaming references to the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit as the DeKalb Judicial Circuit, matching a 2024 statewide law change.
- Restates the percentage-of-gross-salary pay formula for the Chief Executive Officer, District Attorney, and Sheriff (100%), Clerk of Superior Court (80%), Tax Commissioner (75%), and county commissioners (32%).
- Sets the annual salary 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 percent of gross salary.
- Keeps existing rules paying full-time associate magistrates 90 percent of the Chief Magistrate's salary and part-time associate magistrates a matching hourly rate.
- Repeals any prior laws that conflict with these updated pay provisions.
Who it affects
DeKalb County's Chief Executive Officer, District Attorney, Sheriff, Clerk of Superior Court, Tax Commissioner, County Commissioners, State Court judges, the Chief Magistrate and associate magistrates, the Probate Court judge, Juvenile Court judges, and the Solicitor-General all see their pay tied to the revised salary figures in this bill.
Why it matters
The change directly affects how much DeKalb County's top elected officials, judges, and magistrates are paid, since many of these salaries are calculated as a percentage of the newly raised base figure. It also cleans up outdated references to the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit's old name in county pay law.
Key provisions
- Section 1 sets the 'gross salary' definition's dollar floor at $218,990.30, used as the base for calculating several officials' pay.
- Section 2 adds new Section 1.2 recognizing the renaming of the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit to the DeKalb Judicial Circuit under a 2024 state law.
- Section 3 restates the percentage pay formulas in Sections 2 and 2.1 for county officers and certain judges, setting a $208,040.00 or 90 percent of gross salary floor for judges and the Solicitor-General.
- Section 4 restates magistrate pay rules in Sections 3 and 3.1, tying associate magistrate pay to the Chief Magistrate's salary and confirming monthly payment from county funds.
- Section 5 repeals any conflicting prior laws.
From the bill
“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.”
“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”
Discussed in meetings (4)
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, March 18, 2026 (legislative day 33)
From 0:51:22 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 2709
Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk reported a committee recommendation to pass a substitute for SB 350. The substitute was included in the local calendar for DeKalb County, with no explanation of its changes or individual debate. The House passed the package, 161 to 2.
Senate floor session, March 20, 2026 (legislative day 35)
From 5:09:31 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: A senator gave notice of an intention to ask the Senate on the next legislative day to consider House action on SB 350. The clerk described revisions to compensation for certain DeKalb County judges, judicial officers and county officers, along with court-name updates. No vote on the House action occurred in this session.
Senate floor session, March 23, 2026 (legislative day 36)
From 5:14:28 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor asked the Senate to agree to the House substitute to SB 350, concerning DeKalb County officials’ compensation. The sponsor said the measure corrected a drafting problem, updated the circuit name and restored local salary arrangements affected by earlier statewide judicial-pay changes. A committee chair questioned whether the district attorney provision conflicted with HB 1020, passed earlier that day. The sponsor said the local measure did not raise the current district attorney’s pay and expected the current officeholder to retain the existing pay system. The sponsor did not offer a legal opinion on which law would control. Another senator offered an amendment deleting the district attorney salary line to avoid a conflict. A questioning senator argued that the House could resolve any inconsistency, while the amendment’s sponsor preferred delaying action or removing the provision. Both motions to agree were withdrawn. After procedural discussion, the sponsor also withdrew a motion to table the bill and asked that it remain available for special action. No final agreement or amendment vote occurred.
Senate floor session, March 25, 2026 (legislative day 37)
From 7:34:44 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub)
Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk described SB 350 as revising compensation for certain DeKalb County judges and county officers and updating court names. The sponsor said a conflict with separate district attorney compensation legislation had been resolved through the planned order of signing. The sponsor requested immediate transmission so the local bill could be signed first, allowing a later statewide compensation law to take precedence. Another senator thanked the sponsor for resolving the potential contradiction. The Senate agreed to the House substitute 46 to 0 and approved immediate transmission to the governor 47 to 0.
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 697
- Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
- Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
- Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
Show full history (14 actions)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted As Amended (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Kim Jackson (D, SD-41)
- Randal Mangham (D, SD-55)
- Elena Parent (D, SD-44)
- Emanuel Jones (D, SD-10)
- Tonya Anderson (D, SD-43)
- Long Tran (D, HD-80)
Votes
- Senate voteMarch 27, 2025
52 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 3 excused)
- House voteMarch 18, 2026
161 yea, 2 nay (7 not voting, 6 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 25, 2026
46 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 5 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 25, 2026
47 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 5 excused)
Topics
- DeKalb County government
- judicial salaries
- county officer pay
- local government finance