--- title: SB 491. Cobb Judicial Circuit; assistant district attorneys; change the salaries collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb491 cite_as: SB 491, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb491 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb491.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb491/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73081 date: 2026-02-26 status: engrossed 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/sb490.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb492.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 444 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb491.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 491 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-02-24 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Ed Setzler - Michael Rhett - Kay Kirkpatrick - Jaha Howard - Donzella James text_version: Engrossed has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB491/2025 upstream_id: 2113591 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - district attorney salaries - Cobb County government - prosecutor pay - local legislation --- # SB 491. Cobb Judicial Circuit; assistant district attorneys; change the salaries ## Text Senate Bill 491 By: Senators Setzler of the 37th, Rhett of the 33rd, Kirkpatrick of the 32nd, Howard of the 35th and James of the 28th AS PASSED SENATE A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act creating the Cobb Judicial Circuit, approved February 19, 1951 (Ga. L. 1951, p. 184), as amended, particularly by an Act approved March 27, 1995 (Ga. L. 1995, p. 3619), an Act approved April 4, 1997 (Ga. L. 1997, p. 3879), and an Act approved March 27, 1998 (Ga. L. 1998, p. 3894), so as to change the salaries of assistant district attorneys; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. An Act creating the Cobb Judicial Circuit, approved February 19, 1951 (Ga. L. 1951, p. 184), as amended, particularly by an Act approved March 27, 1995 (Ga. L. 1995, p. 3619), an Act approved April 4, 1997 (Ga. L. 1997, p. 3879), and an Act approved March 27, 1998 (Ga. L. 1998, p. 3894), is amended by revising Section 4B as follows: "SECTION 4B. (a) The district attorney is authorized to appoint, in addition to those assistant district attorneys otherwise provided by law, 14 full-time or part-time assistant district attorneys who shall serve at the pleasure of the district attorney and who shall assist the district attorney in the performance of his or her duties. All assistant district attorneys shall have been admitted to the practice of law in all of the courts of the State of Georgia and be members in good standing of the State Bar of Georgia. Except as otherwise provided by law, all assistant district attorneys shall be compensated a sum of at least $83,400.00 annually beginning on January 1, 2027. The exact amount of said compensation shall be determined by the district attorney of the Cobb Judicial Circuit. The sum shall be payable in equal monthly installments from the general funds of the county, with the exception that whenever the State of Georgia provides the compensation to any assistant district attorneys, the amount of state compensation shall be deducted from the total salary paid from the general funds of Cobb County, Georgia. (b) The district attorney is authorized to designate a specified number of assistant district attorneys to serve as supervisors." SECTION 2. This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2026. SECTION 3. 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 minimum annual salary for assistant district attorneys in the Cobb Judicial Circuit to at least $83,400, starting January 1, 2027. ### Plain-language summary This bill amends the 1951 Georgia law that created the Cobb Judicial Circuit, which covers Cobb County's district attorney's office. Current law lets the district attorney appoint up to 14 full-time or part-time assistant district attorneys, but the older law set a lower minimum salary for them. The bill raises that minimum to at least $83,400 a year, beginning January 1, 2027. The Cobb County district attorney still decides the exact pay for each assistant above that floor. The money comes from Cobb County's general funds, except that any state-paid portion of an assistant's salary is subtracted from what the county pays. The bill also keeps the existing rule letting the district attorney designate some assistants as supervisors. If enacted, the overall law would take effect July 1, 2026, ahead of the salary change itself. ### What it does - Raises the minimum annual salary for Cobb Judicial Circuit assistant district attorneys to at least $83,400, effective January 1, 2027. - Keeps the district attorney's authority to appoint up to 14 full-time or part-time assistant district attorneys who serve at the district attorney's pleasure. - Leaves it to the Cobb County district attorney to set each assistant's exact pay above the new minimum. - Continues requiring that state-paid compensation for an assistant be deducted from the amount Cobb County pays from its general funds. - Preserves the district attorney's power to designate certain assistant district attorneys as supervisors. ### Who it affects Assistant district attorneys in the Cobb Judicial Circuit, the elected Cobb County district attorney who sets exact pay and supervisory roles, and Cobb County government, which funds the salaries from its general funds alongside any state contribution. ### Why it matters Assistant district attorneys in Cobb County would see a higher guaranteed minimum salary, which could affect recruitment and retention of prosecutors in that office. Cobb County taxpayers would fund most of the increase through the county's general funds, with state compensation offsetting part of the cost. ### Key provisions - Section 1 rewrites Section 4B of the 1951 Cobb Judicial Circuit Act to set the new minimum salary of at least $83,400 annually for assistant district attorneys, starting January 1, 2027. - Section 1 keeps the cap of 14 additional full-time or part-time assistant district attorneys the district attorney may appoint. - Section 1 requires all assistant district attorneys to be licensed and in good standing with the State Bar of Georgia. - Section 1 requires salaries to be paid monthly from Cobb County's general funds, minus any state-provided compensation. - Section 2 sets the overall Act's effective date as July 1, 2026. - Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Engrossed (2026-02-24) - Last action: House Second Readers (2026-02-26) - Sponsors: Ed Setzler, Michael Rhett, Kay Kirkpatrick, Jaha Howard, Donzella James - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73081 > The history, votes, and amendments (444 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb491.md?full=1