---
type: "Bill"
title: "Superior courts; additional judge of the Flint Judicial Circuit; provide"
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 an additional judge of the superior courts of the Flint Judicial Circuit; to provide for the appointment of such additional judge by the Governor; 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: "2019_20"
identifier: "HB 786"
citation: "Georgia HB 786 (2019_20)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Andrew Welch", "Demetrius Douglas", "El-Mahdi Holly", "Karen Mathiak", "Roger Rutledge", "Sandra Scott"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 18
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2020-01-16"
last_action: "2020-07-29"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2bda00d1-0932-4c46-97a7-0a8a68f7b4aa"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "ec7bf15205657787f7a4d529d59585f48882c4a1960d3e4a53a6c2af2d29d295"
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 786 (2019_20) — Superior courts; additional judge of the Flint Judicial Circuit; provide

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 an additional judge of the superior courts of the Flint Judicial Circuit; to provide for the appointment of such additional judge by the Governor; 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. **HB 786/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/195258.pdf)
2. **LC 41 2185/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/188101.pdf)
3. **LC 41 2279S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/190470.pdf)
4. **LC 41 2279S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/189480.pdf)
5. **SCSFA to HB786** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/194663.pdf)
6. **Sen ctee sub LC 48 0216S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/193361.pdf)
7. **Sen floor amend 1 AM 41 0521** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/194619.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **160–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Andrew Welch — primary (person)
- Demetrius Douglas — primary (person)
- El-Mahdi Holly — primary (person)
- Karen Mathiak — primary (person)
- Roger Rutledge — primary (person)
- Sandra Scott — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-16** House Hopper
- **2020-01-27** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2020-01-28** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2020-02-05** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-02-20** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2020-02-20** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2020-02-21** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2020-06-15** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-06-16** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2020-06-24** Senate Tabled
- **2020-06-24** Senate Taken from Table
- **2020-06-24** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2020-06-24** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2020-06-26** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2020-06-30** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2020-07-29** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2020-07-29** Act 493 `executive-signature`
- **2020-07-29** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2bda00d1-0932-4c46-97a7-0a8a68f7b4aa`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).