---
type: "Bill"
title: "Dougherty Judicial Circuit; superior court; provide for a fourth judge"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 15-6-2 of the O.C.G.A., relating to the number of judges of superior courts, so as to provide for a fourth judge of the superior courts of the Dougherty Judicial Circuit; to declare inherent authority; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2023_24"
identifier: "HB 77"
citation: "Georgia HB 77 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bill Yearta", "David Sampson", "Gerald Greene", "Mike Cheokas"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 17
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-01-25"
last_action: "2023-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c4e08a54-8f9d-4c79-a29b-29be3da3611b"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "23350943990922a57b068b0b4c8b954a1de25637be1e9b86b71ae79ec47a5efc"
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 77 (2023_24) — Dougherty Judicial Circuit; superior court; provide for a fourth judge

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 15-6-2 of the O.C.G.A., relating to the number of judges of superior courts, so as to provide for a fourth judge of the superior courts of the Dougherty Judicial Circuit; to declare inherent authority; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

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

1. **Floor Amendment AM 49 0119** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/219929.pdf)
2. **HB 77/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/220462.pdf)
3. **LC 44 2190/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/212787.pdf)
4. **LC 49 1198S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/214008.pdf)
5. **LC 49 1198S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/213337.pdf)
6. **Sen floor amend 1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/218026.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #329 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **170–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #233 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #24 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **168–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #355 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **50–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bill Yearta — primary (person)
- David Sampson — primary (person)
- Gerald Greene — primary (person)
- Mike Cheokas — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-25** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2023-01-26** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2023-01-30** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2023-02-01** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-08** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2023-02-08** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2023-02-09** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-13** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-14** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2023-03-15** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2023-03-15** Senate Passed/Adopted As Amended `passage`
- **2023-03-27** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As Amended
- **2023-03-29** Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub
- **2023-04-06** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-01** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-01** Act 58 `executive-signature`
- **2023-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c4e08a54-8f9d-4c79-a29b-29be3da3611b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).