Election of District Attorneys and Solicitors-General of State Courts

If this bill is passed, it will update part of the Code of Georgia.

• Code of Georgia: These are the rules or laws for the state of Georgia that say what people in Georgia can and cannot do.

This bill:

• Gives the General Assembly the green light to set up nonpartisan elections for certain roles in state courts.

  • General Assembly: The group of people elected to make laws in Georgia. It includes the House of Representatives and the Senate.

  • Nonpartisan Elections: elections where candidates don't represent political parties.

• Lays out skills and experiences people need to have to do these jobs.

• Cancels laws that stop this one from working.

• Changes part of the Georgia code about turning in paperwork to be considered for certain government jobs.

  • People who want to be the District Attorney, a lawyer in charge of making decisions about people who committed crimes in a certain area, need to turn in their paperwork saying they want the job with the Secretary of State.

    • Secretary of State: A government official who handles things like elections, business records, and official documents for the state.

  • People can turn in their paperwork from 9:00 A.M. on the Monday of the eleventh week before the election to 12:00 Noon the next Friday.  

  • People who want to be the Solicitor-General should turn their paperwork in to the superintendent.

    • Superintendent: The person who runs the schools in a district and makes sure they are following rules and giving students a good education.

• Updates part of the Georgia Code about nonpartisan elections:

  • The General Assembly can set up nonpartisan elections for the office of district attorney, the office of solicitor-general of the state court, county judicial offices, offices of local boards of education, and offices of consolidated governments

  • The rules for nonpartisan elections have to stick to existing guides  

  • Local laws on nonpartisan elections need to match the general way of doing them.  

  • Nonpartisan primaries aren't required for some offices anymore.

    • Primaries: Elections where people vote for candidates to represent their political party in the final election.

  • Nonpartisan elections will take place alongside the general primary in years with even numbers (2026, 2028, 2030, etc.)

  • When a city and county combine their governments into one, nonpartisan elections will follow the same rules as elections for counties.

If this bill is passed, city elections will follow the dates set in municipal charters.

• Municipal charters: The official rules that explain how a city or town is run, kind of like a constitution for local government.