This legislation provides an additional $200 per month supplement to be paid by the county for superior court clerks who complete voluntary training with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government and become a "certified superior court clerk".  Clerk's are mandated to complete this training to become a "certified superior court clerk" upon election under current law that has been in effect since 1998.  All training and reasonable travel expenses are currently the responsibility of the county.  Essentially this is a $200 per month salary increase for superior court clerks.

This bill requires cities and counties, if they are soliciting a bid or proposal opportunity for goods and services valued at $10,000 or more, or public works contracts for over $100,000, to post the advertisement on the Georgia Procurement Registry at no cost to the local government.  It is then optional for the local government to advertise the bid or proposal opportunity in the legal organ or their website.  Action: the above notices must be posted on the Georgia Procurement Registry.         

This legislation had mandated that cities and counties which charge any regulatory fees (license or permit fees) or have any regulatory requirements to establish a schedule of such fees and requirements which must include time lines necessary for processing completed applications and a list of all documentation needed by applicants to meet regulatory requirements. Upon receipt of an application related to any fee, the applicant will pay only 50% of the fee. The local government must then notify the applicant whether an application is complete. Whenever the local government does not meet its deadline for acting on a "complete" application, the associated fees will be reduced by 10 percent for each 10 days said action is delayed. Local governments are required to set up a second, expedited process for processing all applications and permits and must study how to share applicants' information with other local, state and federal agencies so that applicants don't have to duplicate filing efforts with other governments.  

For a summary of the above, Senate version of SB 2 please click here.      

The above language was removed by the House and replaced with a voluntary "Ready for Partnership Georgia" program whereby local governments can adopt a series of measures to streamline their permitting processes to obtain said designation.  While ACCG has no concerns with the now-current House version of the bill, there will most certainly be efforts by the Senate to reinstall the above language that ACCG opposes.  Stay tuned, as this one will likely be decided in a conference committee report late on the last day of session.      

This legislation requires written policies for emergency pursuits to include a requirement that a vehicle pursuit may only occur if probable cause exists to believe that the person committed or is committing murder, aggravated battery, kidnapping, false imprisonment, hijacking, interference with custody, trafficking for labor or sexual servitude, rape, armed robery, or any offnese that creates an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury.  The policy must also require that the driver of the emergency pursuit vehicle comply with the requirements of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-6:  driving through a red light or stop sign only after slowing down as necessary for safe operation, exceeding the speed limit only if it does not endanger life or property, and using the blue lights and siren.