# Georgia SB 261: Magistrates Retirement Fund; early retirement benefit; provide

Georgia SB 261, Magistrates Retirement Fund; early retirement benefit; provide, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Lee Anderson (Republican), Steve Gooch (Republican), Marty Harbin (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-SB261-2025-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Georgia SB 261
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: Magistrates Retirement Fund; early retirement benefit; provide
- Status: signed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2025-02-26
- Last action: 2026-07-01, Effective Date
- Sponsors: Lee Anderson (Republican), Steve Gooch (Republican), Marty Harbin (Republican), Billy Hickman (Republican), Brian Strickland (Republican), Rick Williams (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Retirement, General Bill
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 3 (273 yes, 1 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 3

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Bigger retirement benefits for Georgia magistrates: benefit, high. Beginning July 1, 2026, approved Georgia Magistrates Retirement Fund members get larger monthly retirement benefits. Benefits equal 5% of average final monthly compensation per service year, up from 4%. The service limit rises from 20 to 28 years. The compensation limit is $42,781.22 annually or th…
- Higher retirement dues for Georgia magistrates: cost, medium. Beginning July 1, 2026, Georgia Magistrates Retirement Fund members pay higher monthly dues. Dues rise from 3.42% to 4.0% of the member’s maximum average final monthly compensation. Payments are due by the tenth day of each month. Service periods with unpaid required dues do not count toward retire…
- Retired magistrates gain retirement board representation: mixed, low. Beginning July 1, 2026, one retired chief magistrate replaces an active chief magistrate on the seven-member retirement fund board. The board keeps four active chief magistrates, the Governor or a designee, and another Governor appointee who is not the Attorney General. All five magistrate represen…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Lee Anderson (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Steve Gooch (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Marty Harbin (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Billy Hickman (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Brian Strickland (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Rick Williams (Republican), Senate
- Cosponsor: John Carson (Republican), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-04-02 | Senate | AGREE TO HOUSE SUBSTITUTE | pass | 53 | 0 | 2 |
| 2026-03-31 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 167 | 0 | 7 |
| 2026-03-04 | Senate | PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE | pass | 53 | 1 | 1 |

## Actions (16)

- 2026-07-01: Effective Date
- 2026-05-11: Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
- 2026-05-11: Act 490
- 2026-04-10: Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
- 2026-04-02: Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
- 2026-03-31: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- 2026-03-31: House Third Readers (House)
- 2026-03-31: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
- 2026-03-09: House Second Readers (House)
- 2026-03-06: House First Readers (House)
- 2026-03-04: Senate Third Read (Senate)
- 2026-03-04: Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
- 2026-02-05: Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- 2025-02-27: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2025-02-26: Senate Hopper (Senate)

## Bill text

- SB 261/AP* (v13): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/249177)

## 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 261/AP* (v13) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/249177)

## 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-SB261-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).