--- title: HB 1489. Douglasville, City of; require candidates seeking election from a district to reside in such district for a certain amount of time prior to the date of such election collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1489 cite_as: HB 1489, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1489 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1489.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1489/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73778 date: 2026-05-11 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1488.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1490.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 887 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1489.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1489 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-05-11 last_action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 sponsors: - Sylvia Baker - Kimberly Alexander - Kimberly New text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1489/2025 upstream_id: 2128642 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - local elections - Douglasville city charter - candidate residency requirements - city council --- # HB 1489. Douglasville, City of; require candidates seeking election from a district to reside in such district for a certain amount of time prior to the date of such election ## Text House Bill 1489 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Baker of the 64th, Alexander of the 66th, and New of the 40th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act to provide a new charter for the City of Douglasville, approved April 16, 1999 (Ga. L. 1999, p. 4559), as amended, to require candidates seeking election from a district to reside in such district for a certain amount of time prior to the date of such election; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. An Act to provide a new charter for the City of Douglasville, approved April 16, 1999 (Ga. L. 1999, p. 4559), as amended, is amended by revising Section 2.11 as follows: "SECTION 2.11. City council; terms and qualifications for office. The members of the city council shall serve for terms of four years and until their respective successors are elected and qualified. No person shall be eligible to serve as mayor or concilmember unless that person shall be at least 21 years of age and shall have been a resident of the city for twelve months prior to the date of the election of the mayor or members of the city council. Each member of the city council shall continue to reside in the city during such member's term and shall be registered and qualified to vote in municipal elections of this city. Candidates seeking election as a councilmember from a district shall reside in such district for at least twelve months prior to the date of the election of members of the city council. This residency requirement shall also apply to write-in candidates." SECTION 2. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A House bill amends Douglasville's city charter to require candidates running for a city council district seat to have lived in that district for at least twelve months before the election. ### Plain-language summary Douglasville's city charter previously required council candidates to have lived in the city for twelve months before an election, but it did not clearly require them to have lived specifically within the district they seek to represent. This bill rewrites Section 2.11 of the charter to add that requirement. Under the revised language, a person running for mayor or city council must still be at least 21 years old and have lived in the city for twelve months before the election. Now, candidates running for a council seat tied to a specific district must also have lived in that district for at least twelve months before the election. The bill states this residency rule applies to write-in candidates as well. The change takes effect once enacted, repealing any conflicting laws. ### What it does - Adds a new district residency requirement: council candidates running from a district must live in that district for at least twelve months before the election. - Keeps the existing citywide rules that council members and the mayor must be at least 21 and have lived in the city for twelve months before the election. - Requires council members to keep living in the city and stay registered to vote in city elections throughout their term. - Extends the district residency requirement to write-in candidates seeking a district council seat. - Repeals any prior laws that conflict with these updated charter provisions. ### Who it affects This affects anyone running for Douglasville City Council from a specific district, including write-in candidates, as well as current and future council members and the mayor, who must meet the charter's age and residency rules. ### Why it matters Voters in a given Douglasville council district would be assured that their representative actually lives among them, not just somewhere in the city. Prospective candidates who recently moved into a district would need to wait twelve months before they could run for that district's seat. ### Key provisions - Section 1 rewrites Section 2.11 of the Douglasville city charter (originally enacted in 1999) covering city council terms and candidate qualifications. - Sets a four-year term for city council members, who serve until successors are elected and qualified. - Requires mayoral and council candidates to be at least 21 years old and to have lived in the city for twelve months before the election. - Adds a new requirement that district council candidates reside in their district for at least twelve months before the election. - Applies the same district residency rule to write-in candidates. - Section 2 repeals any laws that conflict with this Act. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-05-11) - Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 (2026-05-11) - Sponsors: Sylvia Baker, Kimberly Alexander, Kimberly New - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73778 > The history, votes, and amendments (887 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1489.md?full=1