Georgia CommonsHB 1245: Walker County; Board of Education; members shall be elected by voters of the respective education districts; provide
Last action May 11, 2026 · Effective Date 2026-05-11
House Bill 1245 changes how Walker County's school board is elected, requiring each of the board's five members to be chosen only by voters living in that member's own education district rather than by voters countywide.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Walker County currently elects its five-member Board of Education under a 1968 law. This bill amends that law to change the voting method used to pick board members. Instead of every registered voter in the Walker County School District being able to vote on every board seat, each of the five education districts would elect only its own representative, and only voters who live in that specific district could vote in that race. The bill also updates the process for filling a vacancy on the board, requiring the remaining board members to choose a successor who lives in the district where the vacancy occurred, with that seat later going to a district-wide vote depending on how much of the term remains. The bill repeals any conflicting laws.
What the bill does
- Requires each of the five Walker County Board of Education members to be elected only by voters residing in that member's education district, not by all county voters.
- Keeps the board at five members, one per education district, matching the district boundary map referenced as Appendix A.
- Revises the vacancy-filling process so a replacement board member must live in the same education district where the vacancy occurred.
- Sets rules for whether a vacancy is filled by board appointment alone or followed by a district election, depending on how many years remain in the term.
- Repeals any prior laws that conflict with these new election rules.
Who it affects
Registered voters in Walker County's five education districts, candidates for the Walker County Board of Education, and the board itself, which must follow the new election and vacancy-filling procedures going forward.
Why it matters
Voters in each Walker County education district would only decide who represents their own district, rather than having a say in every seat on the board. This narrows each voter's ballot influence to local races but ties board representation more directly to specific neighborhoods within the county.
Key provisions
- Section 1 revises subsection (a) of the 1968 Act so that each board member is elected only by qualified voters of his or her own education district, not the whole school system.
- Section 1 keeps the five education districts as defined in the referenced district map (Appendix A, 'WalkerSB-2022 Plan').
- Section 2 revises Section 5 of the original Act to require that a board member appointed to fill a vacancy be a resident of the district where the vacancy occurred.
- Section 2 distinguishes vacancies occurring in the first two years of a term (filled temporarily, then decided by district voters) from those in the last two years (filled by board appointment through the end of the term).
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“each member shall be a resident of the district from which he or she is elected and shall be elected only by the qualified voters of such education district”
“Vacancies on the board which occur within the first two years of a term of office shall be filled by the remaining members of the board electing a successor, who shall be a resident of the election district from which the vacancy occurs”
Status timeline
- Effective Date 2026-05-11
- Act 552
- House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- House Sent to Governor (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Third Read (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
Show full history (16 actions)
- Senate Withdrawn & Recommitted (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Mike Cameron (R, HD-001)
- Steve Tarvin (R, HD-002)
- Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)
Votes
- House voteFebruary 17, 2026
163 yea, 1 nay (7 not voting, 4 absent)
- Senate voteMarch 31, 2026
48 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 4 absent)
Topics
- local elections
- school board
- Walker County
- education districts