---
type: "Bill"
title: "Augusta Judicial Circuit; a sixth judge of the superior courts; provide"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 15-6-2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the number of judges of superior courts, so as to provide for a sixth judge of the superior courts of the Augusta Judicial Circuit; to provide for the appointment of such additional judge by the Governor; to declare inherent authority; to provide for related matters; to provide for effective dates; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2025_26"
identifier: "SB 145"
citation: "Georgia SB 145 (2025_26)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["COURTS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Harold Jones II", "Lee Anderson", "Max Burns"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-02-11"
last_action: "2025-04-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e99b61b9-f01a-4e00-a6fc-c9f7844a3392"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "3d6eef4d17ffb4adac9c6dc719087997283d60a3f7a4cf2bd5af96b821b364b7"
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 145 (2025_26) — Augusta Judicial Circuit; a sixth judge of the superior courts; provide

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 15-6-2 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the number of judges of superior courts, so as to provide for a sixth judge of the superior courts of the Augusta Judicial Circuit; to provide for the appointment of such additional judge by the Governor; to declare inherent authority; to provide for related matters; to provide for effective dates; 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 introduced LC 47 3359** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/232037.pdf)
2. **As passed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/234620.pdf)
3. **SB 145/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/236519.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #282 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **172–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #109 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **53–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Harold Jones II — primary (person)
- Lee Anderson — primary (person)
- Max Burns — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-02-11** Senate Hopper `introduction`
- **2025-02-12** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2025-02-26** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-02-27** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2025-02-28** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2025-02-28** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2025-03-03** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2025-03-04** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2025-03-13** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-18** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2025-03-18** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2025-04-07** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-04-30** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2025-04-30** Act 26 `executive-signature`
- **2025-04-30** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e99b61b9-f01a-4e00-a6fc-c9f7844a3392`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).