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House panel approves amendment to let former military officers qualify for sheriff
Summary
A Georgia House committee approved a committee substitute to House Bill 246 that adds former military officers to the list of people eligible to qualify as sheriff if they can swear they will complete required training within six months, and the bill passed the committee by voice vote.
A Georgia House committee approved an amended committee substitute to House Bill 246 that expands who may qualify to run for sheriff, the panel said during a brief session.
Vice Chairman Houston Gaines, the bill’s sponsor on the floor, told the committee the measure updates the sheriff-qualification standard tied to “code section 45 25 2” so that certain former and current public-safety personnel may qualify if they “swear or affirm that they would be able to complete the training within 6 months.”
The amendment offered by Floor Leader McDonald and agreed to by the bill’s author adds “former military officer” alongside the existing categories. “I would like to add military officer,” McDonald said when offering the friendly amendment. The committee adopted McDonald’s amendment by voice vote, with a second and no recorded roll call.
After the amendment was adopted, the committee considered the full bill as amended, heard no further discussion and approved the amended committee substitute by voice vote. Chairman Erwin announced, “Your amended bill is passed.”
Committee staff referred to insertion points in the draft language, identifying line references discussed during the amendment (lines noted in the transcript as 24–27 and line 30) and confirming the final phrasing would place “former military officer” after the reference to the code section and after the phrase “such first responder.” Ben, a staff member, helped confirm where the language would be placed.
The committee session took only minutes and contained no roll-call vote; the transcript records voice votes on both the amendment and the amended bill. The transcript does not specify next steps for House Bill 246, such as additional committee referrals or a floor schedule.
