--- title: HB 1508. Pembroke, City of; election and terms for mayor and city council members; revise provisions collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1508 cite_as: HB 1508, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1508 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1508.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1508/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73877 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/hb1507.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1509.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 887 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1508.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1508 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: - Lehman Franklin - Ron Stephens - Jesse Petrea text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1508/2025 upstream_id: 2129465 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - local government - city elections - Pembroke Georgia - municipal terms of office --- # HB 1508. Pembroke, City of; election and terms for mayor and city council members; revise provisions ## Text House Bill 1508 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Franklin of the 160th, Stephens of the 164th, and Petrea of the 166th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act to amend, consolidate, create, revise, and supersede the several Acts incorporating the City of Pembroke, approved March 28, 1985 (Ga. L. 1985, p. 4846), as amended, particularly by an Act approved May 1, 2025 (Ga. L. 2025, p. 3599), so as to revise provisions relating to the election and terms for the mayor and city council members; to provide for elections; to provide for the current terms of city officers to continue; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. An Act to amend, consolidate, create, revise, and supersede the several Acts incorporating the City of Pembroke, approved March 28, 1985 (Ga. L. 1985, p. 4846), as amended, particularly by an Act approved May 1, 2025 (Ga. L. 2025, p. 3599), is amended by revising Section 4 as follows: "Section 4. The next general election for mayor and five city council members shall be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 2027, at which time a mayor and five city council members shall be elected to take office on the second Monday in January, 2028. The council members elected from Districts 1, 3, and 5 in the 2027 general election shall each serve an initial term of office of two years and until their successors are elected and qualified. The mayor and council members from Districts 2 and 4 elected in the 2027 general election shall each serve a term of office of four years and until their successors are elected and qualified for a term of four years and until their successors are elected and qualified. Thereafter, all successors to the mayor and council members shall serve four-year terms of office and until their successors are elected and qualified. A municipal general election shall be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in odd-numbered years, and all persons elected at such elections shall take office on the second Monday in January following such election. The mayor and council members serving on the effective date of this section shall serve out the terms to which they were elected." 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 would change the election schedule and term lengths for the mayor and city council of Pembroke, Georgia, setting a 2027 general election and moving most future terms to four years. ### Plain-language summary This bill amends the charter of the City of Pembroke, which the Georgia General Assembly has revised before, most recently in 2025. It rewrites Section 4 to reset the city's election calendar for mayor and five city council members. Under the bill, the next general election for mayor and all five council seats would happen in November 2027, with winners taking office in January 2028. Council members elected from Districts 1, 3, and 5 in that election would serve an initial two-year term, while the mayor and the Districts 2 and 4 council members would serve four-year terms. After that transition, every mayor and council member elected would serve a standard four-year term. General elections would continue to be held in odd-numbered years, and officials currently serving would finish out the terms they were already elected to. ### What it does - Sets the next general election for Pembroke's mayor and all five city council members for November 2027, with the winners taking office in January 2028. - Gives council members elected from Districts 1, 3, and 5 in 2027 a shorter initial two-year term instead of the standard term. - Gives the mayor and council members from Districts 2 and 4 elected in 2027 a four-year term. - Establishes that after the 2027 election, all future mayors and council members serve four-year terms. - Keeps general elections on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in odd-numbered years, with officials taking office the following January. - Allows current Pembroke officials to finish serving the terms they were already elected to under prior law. ### Who it affects This bill affects residents and voters of the City of Pembroke, Georgia, along with the city's mayor and five city council members whose election dates and term lengths are being restructured. ### Why it matters Pembroke voters would see a staggered transition where some council seats have shorter terms before the city settles into uniform four-year terms for all elected officials starting after the 2027 election, changing how often residents vote for city leadership. ### Key provisions - Section 1 rewrites Section 4 of Pembroke's charter Act (originally from 1985, amended in 2025) to reset the election and term structure. - The next general election for mayor and five council members is set for November 2027, with officials taking office in January 2028. - Council members from Districts 1, 3, and 5 elected in 2027 get an initial two-year term; the mayor and Districts 2 and 4 council members get four-year terms. - Starting after the 2027 election, all mayor and council positions revert to standard four-year terms. - General elections continue in odd-numbered years, and current officeholders finish out their existing terms. - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-05-11) - Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 (2026-05-11) - Sponsors: Lehman Franklin, Ron Stephens, Jesse Petrea - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73877 > The history, votes, and amendments (887 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1508.md?full=1