Georgia CommonsHouse Intragovernmental Coordination Committee
House Intragovernmental Coordination Committee, April 2, 2026
2025-2026 Regular Session · 341 CAP · 16 min
This is a machine transcript of the General Assembly's video, made by a speech-recognition model. It is not an official record and can mishear words, names, and numbers. Speakers are not identified. The video is the record: every timestamp links to the moment it plays.
The video is the General Assembly's, played from its Vimeo channel. Select any time below to play that moment. Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Agenda
Summary
Written by an AI model (gpt-6.1-sol) from the transcript. It is not part of the record, and the video is what was said.
The committee discussed HB 1534, which would add a fourth State Court judge in Chatham County. Discussion focused on differences between the original proposal, an elected judge starting in January 2029, and a Senate substitute providing for an appointment and county funding beginning in January 2027. The sponsor reported county officials’ concerns about the earlier funding deadline, while speakers also emphasized the need to hear cases sooner. The committee took no vote. The chair said a decision would be made on the House floor.
Bills discussed (1)
Each account covers the stretch of the meeting it names. The bill's number is said in that stretch, unless it was the only bill on a committee's agenda.
HB 1534. Chatham County; State Court; provide additional judge
From 0:04:14 · turns 3 to 51
The sponsor said the proposal would add a fourth State Court judge in Chatham County after the chief judge’s workload study identified a need. The sponsor said the original version balanced that need with preserving an election and giving the county time to fund an ongoing expense: an election in May 2028, with service and county funding beginning in January 2029. The sponsor said the Senate substitute instead provided for an appointment and county funding beginning in January 2027. One committee member supported obtaining a judge quickly but raised concerns about coordination among governmental groups. Another member asked whether the earlier deadline would strain the county budget and why senators accelerated it. The sponsor said county leaders had expressed concern and wanted a budget presentation, but the sponsor did not know specific costs or whether there would be a shortfall. The sponsor said senators had not explained the acceleration to the sponsor. A further member asked for clarification of both timelines. Asked by the chair whether an additional judge would help residents get cases heard sooner, the sponsor agreed while emphasizing budget predictability. No vote was taken; the chair said the decision would be made on the House floor.
Transcript
53 turns. Select a time to play that moment of the video.
- 0:00:01
Um, committee,
- 0:03:49
as y'all move in, please don't touch the rule books, uh, on the desk. I just wanna make sure that ... Well, point at them, but don't touch them. I'm kidding.
- 0:04:04
All right, I'm gonna go ahead and call, uh, the meeting of Intergovernmental Coordination. Uh,
- 0:04:11
so we've got, just got some discussion, uh, on House Bill 1534, which is, um, uh, is ... Should be on your desk. Everyone have a packet. This is gonna be Representative Westbrook's bill. It's dealing with a, a new state court judge in the Chatham County area. So I'm gonna go ahead ... Thank you for closing that. I'm gonna go ahead and let Representative Westbrook, uh, just, just for some discussion over this bill 'cause there was some confusion on where, where it was, where it went to, and what we gotta do with it.
- 0:04:43
So I'm gonna go ahead and let you discuss that.
- 0:04:46
Y'all can hear me? Okay. Okay, so this is House Bill 1534. This is a local bill to add a fourth state court judge in Chatham County. Um, this was brought to me, um, by the ch- the current chief state court judge of Chatham County. He had done a workload study and determined that a fourth judge was needed in Chatham County. Um, and I set about working with him and also with, uh, legislative council, who's here with us today, on that bill.
- 0:05:18
W- uh, the chief judge was balancing several competing interests. Obviously, interest number one is we need a judge, let's get a judge. Interest number two was the desire to make this an election, to preserve it, um, as an election for the citizens of Chatham County. And interest number three was to be a good partner to the county, to the county leadership, the county commission chair, and the full commission, um, with the understanding that this was gonna become a pretty significant funding item that was going to be added, and that it was gonna continue going annually into infinity, basically.
- 0:05:56
So that was the desire. Um, we worked with leg council, we drafted the bill, we filed that bill. I had great support from the house delegation on that bill with, I believe, every- everyone in our six-member delegation, Democrats and Republicans, signing on, with the exception of Representative Carl Gilliard, who simply wasn't there that day. And so we didn't need a signature, we wanted to move this along, we dropped it. It went over to the Senate, where it was changed to an appointment and also rapidly accelerated the timeframe for which the county would have to pay for this.
- 0:06:36
And so that was not what the stakeholders had wanted in the beginning, but that is what the Senate presented us with, and so that's where we are today. Um, I, I want to give particular, uh, gratitude to Chief State Court Judge Greg Sapp, who has been absolutely lovely to work with, uh, very, um, just very flexible. And, uh, eventually, I also got county support for the bill that I dropped because it would give them this sort of long, generous runway for, um, for figuring out the funding.
- 0:07:16
So we c- That brings us to this week. Um, unbeknownst to me really until today, um, the rest of my delegation signed on to the Senate version, and that was ... Sort of caught me off guard, honestly, um, and sort of put me in a position of having to figure out how to triangulate the various entities that are interested in this, and, uh, that's where we are today.
- 0:07:42
Thank you, Representative Westbrook. Um, of course, you, you talk about the long runway. We've been down that. We've got the plane in the air, and my job's to figure out how to land the plane now. And, um, so I, I wanna open this up. You know, we know, we know the needs have been discussed at Chatham County, and the area needs a state courts judgeship. That's, that's, that's paramount. That's what we're here to try to, try to fulfill that, that need for the county, catch these cases up.
- 0:08:08
I agree. And may I, may I add one other thing? 'Cause I do-
- 0:08:10
Yeah, please
- 0:08:10
... I am genuinely trying to be very fair to all the stakeholders. Chatham County is still quite concerned about funding this on an ongoing basis. I can't speak to their budget. I'm, I'm not, I'm not privy to that. But I, I ... They do want me to convey to the committee that they would like more time, they would like a budget presentation. Um, and so I want to at least make the committee aware of that.
- 0:08:38
Okay. Any questions for Representative Westbrook?
- 0:08:43
Uh, seeing none, do we have any other speakers, um, to the bill?
- 0:08:53
Okay. Hearing no other speakers, um, we're not gonna make any, any, you know, decision as far as a, a vote because that's, we're in there. And, uh, so I've got to, you know, we'll make a decision on the House floor. But I wanted to give you an opportunity to, to speak what we've discussed, uh, both, both on the floor and the ante room, and then, uh, we can give any other op- committee members opportunities to ask you questions because, you know, it, as we know, we put a big pause in, in local legislation day because we wanna make sure everybody's voices are heard and that we- Thank you ...
- 0:09:25
we vet these very well for, you know, local, local legislation is what gets us all beat, and we've always, you know, we have to look at, look at our, our c- counties, our cities, and, and we're there to represent them, too, and, and their wishes. And, and that's why we want to have this meeting so that you had the opportunity. Uh, did any... I saw a light blink, uh.
- 0:09:48
Oh, yeah.
- 0:09:48
Okay. Madam Mayor.
- 0:09:50
Thank you very much. I'm here.
- 0:09:52
You'll have to talk in your... I can't hear you, but we've... I know we have talked about your grandma and ma, your enunciations. We've had this discussion. I need to be able to hear you.
- 0:10:00
Thank you very much. Uh, it's I, I have never been told that I talk so low but that's okay. I just wanted to support our representative. She, I've seen her work very hard with this, and I thought it had been resolved, you know, of some of the steps that we wanted to take. And I'm hoping that when this committee meets again, that you will come to a reality that we need this judge, and we need the judge, um, as soon as possible.
- 0:10:31
The only thing I think that we're lacking is that there is, has not been any consistency when it comes to working with other parties that involve with it. And when I say that, I'm merely talking about our, not the legislative parties, but also about our other gov- governmental groups. So that is what I wanted to say because we are desperately in need of a judge at this time. Thank you.
- 0:11:03
Representative Gisler.
- 0:11:06
Um, so I, I didn't think I had a question, but now I think I do 'cause I, I just heard that Chatham County needs the judge as soon as possible, but the original legislation would have this judge in place in, in 2029. It sounds like that's what Chatham County is prepared to, to prepare a budget for. Uh, that '20, the, the appointing this judge by January 1, 2027 is gonna potentially put the county in a budgetary bind. I just wanna make sure I'm understanding the issue here.
- 0:11:37
Representative Gisler, no one... I mean, this is the first time I've heard of, uh, that this is gonna put Chatham County's budget in a bind. Um, you know, we've been discussing, uh, with Representative Westbrook about the bill itself as far as, you know, the appointment or the election, but this is the first time that discussion has come up about true to the budget.
- 0:12:00
I, I may have misheard, but it, that, maybe that's a question more for Representative Westbrook. Is, is it gonna be a budgetary-
- 0:12:06
I'll give you that opportunity to ask her that question.
- 0:12:11
What I can tell you is that, uh, my county commission chairman and county manager have expressed a lot of concern about the budget. That I do not know the specifics of, of the numbers or if there will be a shortfall, but what they have ca- conveyed to me is that they would like a b- budget presentation and that this is a very short timeline and this, and that the Senate amendment presents them.
- 0:12:41
If I could have one more question.
- 0:12:44
Yes, you may.
- 0:12:45
Um, did the senators that offer the substitute offer a reason why they wanted to e- accelerate that timeline?
- 0:12:52
Not to me, no.
- 0:12:53
Okay. Thank you.
- 0:12:54
Mm-hmm.
- 0:12:58
Representative New.
- 0:13:01
Thank you, Chairman. Uh, so you had... So your original timeframe was when for this judge?
- 0:13:10
The original, the original-
- 0:13:11
Low.
- 0:13:12
Oh, sorry. Uh, thank you for the question, uh, to my seatmate. And, um, the original timeframe was election in 2028 on the May 2028 ballot with the judge to take the bench effective January 2029. And so under that timeframe, you know, the county is funding it as of t- January 2029.
- 0:13:34
May I, may I ask one more question?
- 0:13:36
You may.
- 0:13:36
The Senate changed it to when? Thank you, sir.
- 0:13:40
Sure. The ch- the Senate, first of all, made it an, an appointment, which in some ways gives the flexibility to kind of meet the need sooner, but the, the downside of that is the Senate substitute would have the county funding it in January 2027.
- 0:13:57
Thank you.
- 0:13:57
Thank you.
- 0:13:59
I have a question for, uh, Representative Westbrook. Hearing, hearing the statements of, of the need, would this help Chatham County if, if this was, this, this does pass and is funding, will this help speed up these cases getting to court, uh, and then state court? Would this be a positive thing for the county?
- 0:14:20
Are you talking about having the judge at all, or are you talking about the Senate amendment?
- 0:14:24
The, having the judge, having the appointment made and in pla- the, the county having a budget for this, the appointment being made and a new state court judge is placed in Chatham County, would Chatham County citizens benefit from that?
- 0:14:38
Certainly Chatham County citizens would benefit in terms of the interest of having these case heard, these cases heard without a doubt. The competing interest is the Chatham County intere- citizens' interest in the budget predictability and whether this could, you know, how this would be funded.
- 0:14:55
Okay. Any further questions from any of the committee members?
- 0:15:02
All right. Well, we are adjourned. Let's go eat.