--- title: SB 620. State Court of Barrow County; a full-time solicitor-general; provide collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb620 cite_as: SB 620, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb620 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb620.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb620/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74057 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb619.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb621.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 903 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb620.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 620 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-05-11 last_action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 sponsors: - Clint Dixon - Bill Cowsert - Frank Ginn text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB620/2025 upstream_id: 2133354 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - Barrow County - state courts - local government salaries - county prosecutors - court staffing --- # SB 620. State Court of Barrow County; a full-time solicitor-general; provide ## Text Senate Bill 620 By: Senators Dixon of the 45th, Cowsert of the 46th and Ginn of the 47th AS PASSED A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act to create the State Court of Barrow County, approved June 29, 2020 (Ga. L. 2020, p. 3591), so as to provide for a full-time solicitor-general of the Barrow County State Court; to provide for the salary of the solicitor-general; to provide for a maximum salary; to provide for assistant solicitors-general and certain other employees; 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 to create the State Court of Barrow County, approved June 29, 2020 (Ga. L. 2020, p. 3591), is amended by revising Section 12 as follows: "SECTION 12. (a) There shall be a solicitor-general of the State Court of Barrow County who shall be elected by the qualified voters of Barrow County at the state-wide general election in November, 2022, shall take office the first day of January immediately following such election, and shall serve for a term of office of four years and until the election and qualification of a successor, as provided by Article 3 of Chapter 18 of Title 15 and Title 21 of the O.C.G.A.; provided, however, that the first solicitor-general shall be appointed by the Governor for a term of office beginning January 1, 2021, and ending January 1, 2023, and until the election and qualification of a successor. (b) The solicitor-general of such court shall have such qualifications as provided in Article 3 of Chapter 18 of Title 15 of the O.C.G.A. and shall be a full-time solicitor-general of such court. (c) The solicitor-general shall be paid an annual salary equal to 95 percent of the annual salary of the district attorney for the Piedmont Judicial Circuit, not including any local supplements, up to a maximum salary of $142,500.00 and shall receive all legally required benefits. Such salary shall be payable out of the funds of Barrow County at the same intervals as installments are paid to other county employees. (d) The solicitor-general may employ such additional assistant solicitors-general, or other attorneys, investigators, paraprofessionals, clerical assistants, victim and witness assistance personnel, and other employees or independent contractors as may be authorized by the board of commissioners. Such personnel employed by the solicitor-general shall be compensated by the county in a manner and amount fixed by the solicitor-general with the approval of the board of commissioners. Any investigator employed pursuant to this subsection shall meet the qualifications for certification as a peace officer as provided in Chapter 8 of Title 35 of the O.C.G.A., the 'Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Act.'" SECTION 2. 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 Georgia Senate bill would make the solicitor-general of the State Court of Barrow County a full-time position with a capped salary and set rules for hiring assistant solicitors-general and support staff. ### Plain-language summary The State Court of Barrow County was created in 2020, with a solicitor-general who prosecutes certain cases in that court. This bill rewrites Section 12 of that 2020 law to specify that the solicitor-general must serve full-time and to set how much that official is paid. Under the bill, the solicitor-general's salary would equal 95 percent of the district attorney for the Piedmont Judicial Circuit's salary (not counting local supplements), capped at $142,500 a year, plus required benefits, paid out of Barrow County funds. The solicitor-general could hire assistant solicitors-general, investigators, paraprofessionals, clerical staff, and victim and witness assistance personnel, if the Barrow County Board of Commissioners authorizes it and approves their pay. Investigators hired this way would have to meet Georgia's peace officer certification standards. The bill repeals any conflicting laws. ### What it does - Requires the Barrow County State Court solicitor-general to serve full-time rather than part-time. - Sets the solicitor-general's salary at 95 percent of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit district attorney's salary, capped at $142,500 a year, plus benefits. - Authorizes the solicitor-general to hire assistant solicitors-general, investigators, paraprofessionals, clerical staff, and victim assistance personnel with county board approval. - Requires any investigator hired by the solicitor-general's office to meet Georgia's peace officer certification standards under the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Act. - Keeps the existing four-year elected term structure for the solicitor-general as set in the 2020 law. ### Who it affects The Barrow County solicitor-general and any assistant solicitors-general, investigators, clerical and victim assistance staff hired by that office; the Barrow County Board of Commissioners, which approves hiring and pay; and Barrow County taxpayers, who fund the salaries. ### Why it matters Making the position full-time and setting a defined, capped salary tied to a comparable district attorney's pay affects how Barrow County recruits and retains its top local prosecutor, and clarifies how the office can staff up to handle its caseload using county funds. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises Section 12 of the 2020 Act creating the State Court of Barrow County to require a full-time solicitor-general. - Subsection (c) ties the solicitor-general's salary to 95 percent of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit district attorney's pay, capped at $142,500 annually, funded by Barrow County. - Subsection (d) lets the solicitor-general hire additional staff, including investigators, attorneys, and clerical personnel, subject to county board of commissioners authorization and pay approval. - Investigators hired under subsection (d) must be certified as peace officers under Georgia's Peace Officer Standards and Training Act (O.C.G.A. Chapter 8 of Title 35). - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-05-11) - Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 (2026-05-11) - Sponsors: Clint Dixon, Bill Cowsert, Frank Ginn - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74057 > The history, votes, and amendments (903 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb620.md?full=1