# Georgia HB 1020: Judicial Retirement System; payment of monthly retirement benefits for creditable service as a district attorney at the age of 65 years; provide

Georgia HB 1020, Judicial Retirement System; payment of monthly retirement benefits for creditable service as a district attorney at the age of 65 years; provide, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Chuck Efstration (Republican), Stan Gunter (Republican), Trey Kelley (Republican) and 3 others; status signed, last action 2026-07-01 (Effective Date); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1020-2025-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Georgia HB 1020
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: Judicial Retirement System; payment of monthly retirement benefits for creditable service as a district attorney at the age of 65 years; provide
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-27
- Last action: 2026-07-01, Effective Date
- Sponsors: Chuck Efstration (Republican), Stan Gunter (Republican), Trey Kelley (Republican), Rob Leverett (Republican), Matt Reeves (Republican), Tyler Paul Smith (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Retirement, Rules, General Bill
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 3 (296 yes, 74 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 6

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Assistant district attorneys get salary floors: benefit, medium. Beginning July 1, 2026, assistant district attorney annual salary floors are $78,000 for level I and $93,082 for level II. The floors are $111,562 for level III and $134,291 for level IV. Existing maximums remain 65% of district attorney compensation for level I, 70% for level II, and 80% for level…
- Counties can boost district attorney pensions: benefit, low. Counties may count district attorney locality pay toward retirement benefits where other law allows it. Counties do not have to offer this benefit. Retirement benefits and rights that existed before July 1, 2026, remain protected.
- Some public workers lose automatic raises: cost, medium. Beginning July 1, 2026, existing local rules linking public workers’ pay increases to district attorney compensation are suspended. Affected pay stays at its starting level unless lawfully changed or the pause ends; new local rules adopted afterward are not suspended. For judges, the pause ends Jul…
- Some judicial retirement credit waits until 65: mixed, high. This rule covers people first joining Georgia’s Judicial Retirement System on or after July 1, 2026. For retirement before age 65, the monthly benefit calculation excludes district attorney and superior court judge service. At age 65, that service counts in the full benefit calculation. The rule do…
- District attorney pay faces new caps: mixed, medium. Beginning July 1, 2026, the state budget sets district attorney salaries, with an 88% statutory-base cap except for the law’s compensation-option exception. Counties may offer locality pay to district attorneys not in office on that date or incumbents choosing the new plan. This replaces earlier co…
- District attorneys can choose new pay: mixed, medium. District attorneys and interim district attorneys in office on July 1, 2026, can choose state salary plus eligible county locality pay. They must file a written election with the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia and each county’s governing authority by January 1, 2030. The choice cannot be…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Chuck Efstration (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Stan Gunter (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Trey Kelley (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Rob Leverett (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Matt Reeves (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Tyler Paul Smith (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Bo Hatchett (Republican), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-25 | House | Agree to Senate Substitute | pass | 100 | 55 | 6 |
| 2026-03-23 | Senate | PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE | pass | 32 | 19 | 3 |
| 2026-02-19 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 164 | 0 | 11 |

## Actions (20)

- 2026-07-01: Effective Date
- 2026-05-12: House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- 2026-05-12: Act 716
- 2026-04-06: House Sent to Governor (House)
- 2026-03-25: House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
- 2026-03-23: Senate Third Read (Senate)
- 2026-03-23: Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
- 2026-03-23: Senate Notice to Reconsider (Senate)
- 2026-03-18: Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- 2026-03-12: Senate Third Read (Senate)
- 2026-03-12: Senate Recommitted (Senate)
- 2026-03-09: Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- 2026-03-06: Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- 2026-02-20: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2026-02-19: House Third Readers (House)
- 2026-02-19: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
- 2026-02-12: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- 2026-01-29: House Second Readers (House)
- 2026-01-28: House First Readers (House)
- 2026-01-27: House Hopper (House)

## Bill text

- HB 1020/AP* (v15): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/247644)

## Related bills

- SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckless stunt driving; replace the forfeiture penalty (signed)
- SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation for certain motor vehicles; provide (signed)
- SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Service Foundation; establish (signed)
- SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact (signed)
- HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish (signed)
- HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact (signed)

## Sources
- [HB 1020/AP* (v15) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/247644)

## Related
- [SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckles…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB160-2025-2026)
- [SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation f…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB384-2025-2026)
- [SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Servic…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB76-2025-2026)
- [SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB406-2025-2026)
- [HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1391-2025-2026)
- [HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1344-2025-2026)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1020-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).