# Georgia HB 85: Superior Court Judicial Compensation Reform Act; enact

Georgia HB 85, Superior Court Judicial Compensation Reform Act; enact, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by James Burchett (Republican), Chuck Efstration (Republican), Stan Gunter (Republican) and 3 others; status signed, last action 2025-07-01 (Effective Date); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB85-2025-2026
- 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 85
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: Superior Court Judicial Compensation Reform Act; enact
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-01-16
- Last action: 2025-07-01, Effective Date
- Sponsors: James Burchett (Republican), Chuck Efstration (Republican), Stan Gunter (Republican), Soo Hong (Republican), Rob Leverett (Republican), Matt Reeves (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Judiciary, General Bill
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 3 (232 yes, 42 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 4

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Current judges protected against transition pay cuts: benefit, medium. Judges in office on July 1, 2025, can choose the new pay plan; otherwise, their old pay remains through their term. The choice is permanent and must be filed in writing with the Council of Superior Court Judges and each circuit county’s governing authority. It starts with the next pay period beginn…
- County salary supplements restricted for judges: cost, medium. Beginning July 1, 2025, counties generally cannot provide separate salary supplements to superior court judges. Existing chief judge supplements authorized by law on June 30, 2025, can continue, but cannot be increased. Counties cannot create new chief judge supplements on or after July 1, 2025. In…
- State pay capped for superior court judges: cost, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, the General Assembly sets superior court judges’ annual state pay through the state budget. State pay cannot exceed 90% of the federal judicial salary benchmark. That benchmark is the Northern District of Georgia federal district judge salary on July 1 of the second precedin…
- Optional local pay with caps for judges: mixed, high. Beginning July 1, 2025, counties can offer locality pay to judges taking office afterward and incumbents who elect the new plan. Each participating county must pay eligible judges equally; newly created judgeships receive the same locality pay as existing judges. Each judge’s yearly total across ci…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: James Burchett (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Chuck Efstration (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Stan Gunter (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Soo Hong (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Rob Leverett (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Matt Reeves (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Bo Hatchett (Republican), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-03-28 | Senate | PASSAGE | pass | 51 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025-03-28 | Senate | ADOPTION OF AMENDMENT #1 BY THE SENATOR FROM THE 26TH | fail | 18 | 33 | 2 |
| 2025-02-20 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 163 | 7 | 3 |

## Actions (15)

- 2025-07-01: Effective Date
- 2025-05-12: House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- 2025-05-12: Act 112
- 2025-04-09: House Sent to Governor (House)
- 2025-03-28: Senate Third Read (Senate)
- 2025-03-28: Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- 2025-03-21: Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- 2025-03-20: Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- 2025-02-21: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2025-02-20: House Third Readers (House)
- 2025-02-20: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
- 2025-02-12: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- 2025-01-27: House Second Readers (House)
- 2025-01-17: House First Readers (House)
- 2025-01-16: House Hopper (House)

## Bill text

- HB 85/AP* (v8): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238065)

## 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 85/AP* (v8) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238065)

## 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)
- [Georgia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/georgia/bills)
- [Georgia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/georgia)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB85-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).