---
type: "Bill"
title: "Georgia Colonel; appoint honorary title for life; authorize the Governor"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 38-2-111 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to personal aides-de-camp, appointments, commissions, length of service, and duties, so as to authorize the Governor to appoint honorary Georgia Colonels for life; 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: "SB 337"
citation: "Georgia SB 337 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bill Cowsert", "Billy Hickman", "Chuck Payne", "John Albers", "John F. Kennedy", "Kay Kirkpatrick"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 16
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2024-01-08"
last_action: "2024-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c3a89492-6c9f-4c90-a3d7-20cdf175275e"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "05e44e806f2d6aa429256634388f2ea8d0e751dacd7c222f9d131df2b25e35c7"
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 SB 337 (2023_24) — Georgia Colonel; appoint honorary title for life; authorize the Governor

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 38-2-111 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to personal aides-de-camp, appointments, commissions, length of service, and duties, so as to authorize the Governor to appoint honorary Georgia Colonels for life; 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. **As Passed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/222241.pdf)
2. **As introduced LC 46 0684** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/220859.pdf)
3. **LC 46 0829S/hss** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/225937.pdf)
4. **SB 337/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/227697.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #670 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **168–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #684 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **49–1** (pass) · upper
- Senate Vote #439 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **51–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bill Cowsert — primary (person)
- Billy Hickman — primary (person)
- Chuck Payne — primary (person)
- John Albers — primary (person)
- John F. Kennedy — primary (person)
- Kay Kirkpatrick — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-08** Senate Hopper `introduction`
- **2024-01-09** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-23** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-01-24** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2024-01-29** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2024-01-29** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2024-01-30** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2024-01-31** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2024-02-29** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-07** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2024-03-07** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2024-03-18** Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub
- **2024-04-02** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-05-06** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-05-06** Act 608 `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/c3a89492-6c9f-4c90-a3d7-20cdf175275e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).