SB535: SB535 Mental Health; the re-creation of community service boards; provide

Georgia's community service boards (CSBs) are local public agencies that provide mental health, developmental disability and addiction services in partnership with counties. Georgia law requires these boards to be periodically 're-created' by statute; this bill re-creates them effective July 1, 2026 (replacing an earlier 2014 re-creation date) and reconstitutes their governing boards on that date. The biggest change is to how CSB executive directors are chosen and employed. Starting July 1, 2026, executive directors will generally be appointed and removable by the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and will become department employees, though boards can give input and current executive directors get a choice, by August 1, 2026, to stay as CSB employees under a three-party contract or become department employees. The bill also adds the executive director as a formal member of each governing board, spells out the executive director's day-to-day powers (hiring, firing, contracts, policies), lets boards delegate authority to the director, updates definitions in O.C.G.A. Title 37, sets a December 31, 2026 deadline for the department to issue unified bylaws, and tightens rules for teleconference meetings under O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1.

• Re-creates all Georgia community service boards effective July 1, 2026, and reconstitutes the membership of their governing boards on that date.
• Makes the executive director a formal voting-adjacent member of each governing board, separate from the county-appointed members.
• Requires that, starting July 1, 2026, executive directors be appointed and removable by the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and become department employees, with limited exceptions for current directors.
• Gives current executive directors (as of June 30, 2026) until August 1, 2026 to choose between staying a community service board employee under a three-party contract or becoming a state department employee.
• Spells out specific day-to-day powers for executive directors, including hiring, firing, disciplining staff, setting operational and clinical policies, and requires their approval for board bylaws, budgets and certain contracts after July 1, 2026.
• Revises the teleconference-meeting rules in Georgia's open meetings law (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1) to require that at least half of a community service board's members be physically present for teleconference meetings.

Community service boards and their governing board members across Georgia, current and future executive directors of those boards, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, county governments that appoint board members, and the people who rely on local mental health, developmental disability, and addiction services.

The bill changes who controls community mental health, disability, and addiction service agencies at the local level by moving hiring and firing power over executive directors from local boards to a state commissioner, which could shift accountability from county-appointed boards toward the state agency while preserving some local input in the selection process.

• Section 1 and 2 update definitions in O.C.G.A. §§ 37-1-1 and 37-2-2, adding a defined term for 'executive director' and clarifying 'community service board' and 'community service board area.'
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 37-2-6 to re-create community service boards effective July 1, 2026, add the executive director to the governing board, and require the department to publish unified bylaws by December 31, 2026.
• Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. § 37-2-6.1 so that, starting July 1, 2026, the commissioner appoints and can remove executive directors, who become department employees, while allowing current directors to opt into a three-party contract to remain CSB employees.
• Section 4 also lists specific powers granted to executive directors on and after July 1, 2026, including recruiting and terminating staff, terminating contracts, and setting clinical and operational policy.
• Section 5 revises O.C.G.A. § 37-2-6.4 provisions on how a community service board can convert into a private nonprofit, a county government unit, or part of a hospital authority.
• Section 6 updates O.C.G.A. § 37-2-6.5 on what happens if a community service board decides to cease operations, including the department's options to reconstitute or manage the board.
• Section 8 revises the teleconference meeting rules under O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1 to require at least 50 percent of community service board members to be physically present at teleconference meetings.

1. 2026-05-05Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-05Act 412
3. 2026-05-05Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2026-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2026-03-16House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2026-03-16House Third Readers (House)
7. 2026-03-12House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2026-03-04House Second Readers (House)

• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)Primary sponsor
• Sharon Cooper (R, HD-045)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 26, 2026

   45 yea, 2 nay (1 not voting, 7 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #597

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 16, 2026

   130 yea, 31 nay (5 not voting, 10 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #710

• mental health
• community service boards
• behavioral health administration
• open meetings law
• disability services