---
type: "Bill"
title: "Courts; Judicial Qualifications Commission; change provisions"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 1 of Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions for courts, so as to change provisions relating to the Judicial Qualifications Commission; to expand the membership of the commission and provide for panels; to provide for duties and responsibilities; to provide for appointment of members, filling of vacancies, and confirmation; to provide for definitions; to provide for rules; to provide for confidentiality and exceptions; to provide for a short title; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2017_18"
identifier: "HB 126"
citation: "Georgia HB 126 (2017_18)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Christian Coomer", "Jay Powell", "John Meadows", "Mary Oliver", "Trey Kelley", "Wendell Willard"]
version_count: 0
action_count: 16
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2017-01-25"
last_action: "2017-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ee061f2e-7c3b-4cd4-b299-edd9528598f4"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "daf31668cb2d62c5b28c0272acc15a5d11e8588019afafbd8ad9c0cb4266cb95"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ga"]
---

# Georgia HB 126 (2017_18) — Courts; Judicial Qualifications Commission; change provisions

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 1 of Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions for courts, so as to change provisions relating to the Judicial Qualifications Commission; to expand the membership of the commission and provide for panels; to provide for duties and responsibilities; to provide for appointment of members, filling of vacancies, and confirmation; to provide for definitions; to provide for rules; to provide for confidentiality and exceptions; to provide for a short title; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.


## Votes

- PASSAGE — **176–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Christian Coomer — primary (person)
- Jay Powell — primary (person)
- John Meadows — primary (person)
- Mary Oliver — primary (person)
- Trey Kelley — primary (person)
- Wendell Willard — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-25** House Hopper
- **2017-01-25** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2017-01-26** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2017-02-07** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-02-09** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2017-02-09** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2017-02-10** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-22** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-03-22** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2017-03-28** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2017-03-28** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2017-03-28** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2017-04-05** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-05-01** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2017-05-01** Act 51 `executive-signature`
- **2017-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ee061f2e-7c3b-4cd4-b299-edd9528598f4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).