HB1528: HB1528 Franklin Springs, City of; Municipal Court; authorize assessment and collection of a technology fee

This bill applies only to the Municipal Court of the City of Franklin Springs. It authorizes the court clerk, with an amount set by the municipal judge, to add a technology fee of no more than $15.00 on top of each criminal or quasi-criminal fine paid to the court. The money collected can only be spent on the court's technology needs: buying computer hardware and software, maintaining and installing computer equipment, and purchasing or maintaining imaging, scanning, fax, communications, projection, and printing equipment. The funds must be kept in a separate account and are subject to audit approved by the city's governing authority. The law authorizing this fee ends on July 1, 2036. Any money left in the account at that point stays dedicated to the city's general technology uses, though the city's governing authority can decide to take a surplus for itself.

• Authorizes the Franklin Springs Municipal Court clerk to add a technology fee, capped at $15.00, to each criminal or quasi-criminal fine paid to the court.
• Limits use of the fee revenue to specific technology purchases: computer hardware and software, and imaging, scanning, fax, communications, projection, and printing equipment.
• Requires the collected funds to be kept in a separate account subject to audit approved by the city's governing authority.
• Sets July 1, 2036 as the date the fee authority ends, after which leftover funds stay dedicated to the city's technology uses unless declared a surplus.
• Allows the city's governing authority to claim surplus funds from the account after determining a surplus exists.

People who pay criminal or quasi-criminal fines in the Municipal Court of the City of Franklin Springs, the municipal court clerk and judge who set and collect the fee, and the city's governing authority, which oversees the account and audits.

Anyone fined in this specific municipal court would pay up to $15 more per fine, money set aside only for the court's computers and related equipment rather than general city funds, until the authority to collect it expires in 2036.

• Section 1(a) sets the technology fee cap at $15.00 per criminal or quasi-criminal fine and restricts spending to computer hardware/software, related maintenance and installation, and imaging, scanning, fax, communications, projection, and printing equipment.
• Section 1(b) requires the fee revenue to be kept in a segregated account subject to audit by an auditor approved by the City of Franklin Springs governing authority.
• Section 1(c) terminates the fee authority on July 1, 2036, dedicates residual funds to general city technology uses, and lets the city take any determined surplus.
• Section 2 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-05-11Effective Date 2026-05-11
2. 2026-05-11Act 580
3. 2026-05-11House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-03-25Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2026-03-25Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
7. 2026-03-23Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2026-03-20House Passed/Adopted (House)

• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)Primary sponsor

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 20, 2026

   153 yea, 0 nay (14 not voting, 9 absent)

   Local Calendar : House Vote #734

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 25, 2026

   50 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 2 absent)

   Local Consent Calendar: Senate Vote #799

• municipal court fees
• Franklin Springs
• local government
• court technology
• criminal fines