# Georgia HB 966: Garden City, City of; mayor to fill any vacancy in the office of mayor pro tempore; provide

Georgia HB 966, Garden City, City of; mayor to fill any vacancy in the office of mayor pro tempore; provide, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Carl Gilliard (Democrat), Bill Hitchens (Republican), Edna Jackson (Democrat) and 2 others; status signed, last action 2026-04-02 (House Sent to Governor) (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB966-2025-2026
- 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 966
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: Garden City, City of; mayor to fill any vacancy in the office of mayor pro tempore; provide
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-14
- Last action: 2026-04-02, House Sent to Governor
- Sponsors: Carl Gilliard (Democrat), Bill Hitchens (Republican), Edna Jackson (Democrat), Ron Stephens (Republican), Anne Allen Westbrook (Democrat)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Intragovernmental Coordination, State and Local Governmental Operations, Local Bill
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 2 (211 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Garden City sets mayor succession rules: benefit, low. Garden City's mayor must fill any vacancy in the mayor pro tempore office, the city's backup mayor. After an election that elects the mayor, the mayor appoints another council member to that office for four years. The backup serves until a successor is elected and qualified. The backup acts as mayo…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Carl Gilliard (Democrat), House
- Sponsor: Bill Hitchens (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Edna Jackson (Democrat), House
- Sponsor: Ron Stephens (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Anne Allen Westbrook (Democrat), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-02-24 | Senate | LOCAL CONSENT CALENDAR | pass | 53 | 0 | 2 |
| 2026-02-12 | House | Local Calendar | pass | 158 | 0 | 14 |

## Actions (13)

- 2026-04-02: House Sent to Governor (House)
- 2026-04-02: House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- 2026-04-02: Act 376
- 2026-04-02: Effective Date
- 2026-02-24: Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- 2026-02-24: Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- 2026-02-17: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2026-02-12: House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- 2026-02-12: House Third Readers (House)
- 2026-02-12: House Passed/Adopted (House)
- 2026-01-16: House Second Readers (House)
- 2026-01-15: House First Readers (House)
- 2026-01-14: House Hopper (House)

## Bill text

- HB 966/AP* (v4): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/243577)

## 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 966/AP* (v4) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/243577)

## 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-HB966-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).