GA SB366

Counties must complete salary surveys for every sheriff's office employee (in consultation with the sheriff) and county law enforcement agency employee; municipal corporations must do the same for their law enforcement agencies, with initial submissions due to the Department of Community Affairs by December 31, 2018, and updates required every three years thereafter.

The Department of Community Affairs must prepare an annual report beginning July 1, 2019, on law enforcement salaries and wages statewide, using region-based methodology that accounts for population, geography, socioeconomic factors, and demographics to enable equitable comparisons.

Counties, municipalities, and sheriffs must use the DCA report to develop a guidance pay scale for law enforcement employees, though the pay scale is advisory and does not mandate any specific level of funding or compensation.

A local law enforcement compensation grant program is established within the Department of Community Affairs, contingent on General Assembly appropriations, with preference given to tier 1 counties, those demonstrating financial need, and those that have adopted guidance pay scales; grant funds must supplement—not supplant—existing local law enforcement funding.

Noncompliant counties or municipalities face revocation of their qualified local government status if they fail to cure deficiencies within 60 days of notification, and any entity that misuses grant funds must make full restitution before status is reinstated.