---
type: "Bill"
title: "Houston Judicial Circuit; provide for 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 Houston Judicial Circuit; to provide for the appointment of such additional judge by the Governor; to provide for the election of successors to the judge initially appointed; to prescribe the powers of such judge; to prescribe the compensation, salary, and expense allowance of such judge to be paid by the State of Georgia and the counties comprising said circuit; to authorize the judges of such circuit to divide and allocate the work and duties thereof; to provide for the manner of impaneling jurors; to provide for an additional court reporter for such circuit; to authorize the governing authorities of the counties comprising the Houston Judicial Circuit to provide facilities, office space, supplies, equipment, and personnel for such judges; 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 992"
citation: "Georgia HB 992 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bethany Ballard", "Noel Williams, Jr.", "Robert Dickey", "Shaw Blackmon"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2024-01-23"
last_action: "2024-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/43a8ef60-7528-42d9-97df-25ca71c82936"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "88dfe6afc45056e467b3ad4eb57a04468fc91558e021bdb87ed72e57a5d9a3ae"
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 992 (2023_24) — Houston Judicial Circuit; provide for 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 Houston Judicial Circuit; to provide for the appointment of such additional judge by the Governor; to provide for the election of successors to the judge initially appointed; to prescribe the powers of such judge; to prescribe the compensation, salary, and expense allowance of such judge to be paid by the State of Georgia and the counties comprising said circuit; to authorize the judges of such circuit to divide and allocate the work and duties thereof; to provide for the manner of impaneling jurors; to provide for an additional court reporter for such circuit; to authorize the governing authorities of the counties comprising the Houston Judicial Circuit to provide facilities, office space, supplies, equipment, and personnel for such judges; 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. **HB 992/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/228869.pdf)
2. **LC 48 1078/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/221552.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #431 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **161–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #772 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **51–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bethany Ballard — primary (person)
- Noel Williams, Jr. — primary (person)
- Robert Dickey — primary (person)
- Shaw Blackmon — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-23** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2024-01-24** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2024-01-25** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2024-01-31** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-02-06** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2024-02-06** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2024-02-07** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2024-03-13** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-14** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2024-03-26** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2024-03-26** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2024-04-02** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-22** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-22** Act 401 `executive-signature`
- **2024-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/43a8ef60-7528-42d9-97df-25ca71c82936`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).