# Georgia SB 138: Incorporation of Municipal Corporations; transition of certain services related to newly incorporated municipalities in certain counties; provide

Georgia SB 138, Incorporation of Municipal Corporations; transition of certain services related to newly incorporated municipalities in certain counties; provide, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Jason Anavitarte (Republican), Bill Cowsert (Republican), Clint Dixon (Republican) and 2 others; status signed, last action 2025-05-14 (Senate Date Signed by Governor) (as of 2026-10-19).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB138-2025-2026
- As of: 2026-10-19
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Georgia SB 138
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: Incorporation of Municipal Corporations; transition of certain services related to newly incorporated municipalities in certain counties; provide
- Status: signed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2025-02-10
- Last action: 2025-05-14, Senate Date Signed by Governor
- Sponsors: Jason Anavitarte (Republican), Bill Cowsert (Republican), Clint Dixon (Republican), Ed Setzler (Republican), Shawn Still (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Intragovernmental Coordination, State and Local Governmental Operations, General Bill
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 3 (149 yes, 123 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 7

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- New cities gain road control: benefit, low. During transition, qualifying new cities gain ownership or control of road rights-of-way within their boundaries. They can regulate use, grant franchises, and collect franchise fees. At the city’s choice, the county can keep maintaining these areas as it does in unincorporated areas. Cities do not…
- New cities gain transition legal protections: benefit, low. A county must repay all legal expenses and damages a qualifying city pays in two transition-related situations. One is when the city wins a case seeking a remedy for the county’s failure to follow transition rules. The other is a third-party suit over a city duty left unmet directly because of coun…
- New cities keep county police coverage: benefit, low. Transition rules cover cities created by local Acts becoming law on or after January 1, 2024, in counties with more than 15 municipalities. A qualifying city stays in an existing county police district until it gives notice and takes full responsibility for policing. The county must provide the sam…
- New cities keep county service options: benefit, low. Existing service agreements remain valid and do not need renegotiation just because a qualifying city incorporates. During transition, the city can choose services the county provides elsewhere under those agreements, on the same terms. It must choose within six months of the section’s effective da…
- Unfinished permit fees follow new cities: benefit, low. Counties must share unfinished permit fees when a qualifying city takes over the related service. This applies to county-accepted applications whose fees were not fully refunded, including building, zoning, alcohol, and regulated-business permits. The city gets 95% if the county only accepted the a…
- New cities qualify for insurance-tax money: benefit, low. Voter-approved new cities qualify for incorporation-year life and other-than-life insurance-tax distributions if they complete tax-imposition steps within 18 months. The Commissioner must not have already allocated that year’s proceeds. Allocations use the 1990 or a later U.S. decennial census, inc…
- Service tax money follows new cities: benefit, low. When a qualifying city takes over a service midyear, the county must transfer a time-based share of related collections. This covers service-related taxes, fees, and charges collected before the takeover. The share depends on the portion of the county fiscal year when the county provided the servic…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Jason Anavitarte (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Bill Cowsert (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Clint Dixon (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Ed Setzler (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Shawn Still (Republican), Senate
- Cosponsor: Chuck Efstration (Republican), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-03-13 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 96 | 69 | 5 |
| 2025-02-20 | Senate | ADOPTION OF AMENDMENT #1 BY THE SENATOR FROM THE 9TH | fail | 21 | 32 | 1 |
| 2025-02-20 | Senate | PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE | pass | 32 | 22 |   |

## Actions (15)

- 2025-05-14: Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
- 2025-05-14: Act 289
- 2025-05-14: Effective Date
- 2025-04-07: Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
- 2025-03-13: House Third Readers (House)
- 2025-03-13: House Passed/Adopted (House)
- 2025-02-26: House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- 2025-02-24: House Second Readers (House)
- 2025-02-21: House First Readers (House)
- 2025-02-20: Senate Third Read (Senate)
- 2025-02-20: Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
- 2025-02-19: Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- 2025-02-18: Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- 2025-02-11: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2025-02-10: Senate Hopper (Senate)

## Bill text

- SB 138/AP* (v7): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/236168)

## 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
- [SB 138/AP* (v7) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/236168)

## 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-SB138-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-19).