House passes bill clarifying magistrate court fees and correcting prior repeal language

Representative Leverett presented House Bill 999, which the clerk described as an act to amend Article 5 of Chapter 10 of Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated regarding magistrate court fees and costs. Leverett said the bill allows magistrate courts to assess fees, including technology fees, if authorized by local law, and corrects a repealer typo from a prior bill so that the repeal would apply only where intended.

"It does 2 things," Leverett said: allow magistrate courts to assess fees already authorized by local acts and fix a drafting error that inadvertently tied parts of a prior bill to the wrong repeal clause. He noted the change would render local technology fees lawful when granted by a local act. Members asked whether this bill affected earlier programs or pilots; Leverett said it did not.

The committee report favoring passage was agreed to and the House passed HB 999. The recorded roll-call showed yays and nays in the transcript; the transcript records "On the passage of house bill 999, the yays are 160, the nays are 4." The measure now proceeds according to the chambers process for enrollment and any further consideration.

Why it matters: sponsors described the bill as a technical fix to allow local courts to lawfully assess technology fees when authorized by local law and to protect the intended parts of a prior act from an erroneous broad repeal.

Attributions: quotes and procedural descriptions are from Representative Leveretts presentation and subsequent floor questions.