--- title: HB 1547. Liberty County; board of elections and registration; provide staggered terms for certain future appointees collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1547 cite_as: HB 1547, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1547 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1547.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1547/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74054 date: 2026-05-12 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/hb1546.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1548.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 887 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1547.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1547 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-05-12 last_action: Effective Date 2026-05-12 sponsors: - Al Williams - Buddy DeLoach text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1547/2025 upstream_id: 2133397 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - Liberty County - election board terms - local government appointments - election administration --- # HB 1547. Liberty County; board of elections and registration; provide staggered terms for certain future appointees ## Text House Bill 1547 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Williams of the 168th and DeLoach of the 167th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act to create the board of elections and registration for Liberty County, approved June 3, 2003 (Ga. L. 2003, p. 4437), so as to provide for staggered terms of office for certain future appointees to the board; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. An Act to create the board of elections and registration for Liberty County, approved June 3, 2003 (Ga. L. 2003, p. 4437), is amended in Section 2 by revising subsection (c) as follows: "(c)(1) Except as provided for in paragraph (2) of this subsection, members serve for terms of four years each and until their successors are duly appointed and qualified. Successors to members whose terms are to expire shall be appointed to take office on the first day of January immediately following the expiration of such initial terms of office. (2) Upon the expiration of the terms of the members appointed by the governing authority of Liberty County pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection (b) of this section ending on December 31, 2026, said governing authority shall appoint three successors to such members to serve initial terms of office of two years, expiring on December 31, 2028, and until their successors are duly appointed and qualified. Successors to such members serving two-year terms shall thereafter serve terms as provided for in paragraph (1) of this subsection." 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. House Bill 1547 changes how the Liberty County board of elections and registration fills three of its seats, staggering their terms so members appointed by the county governing authority no longer all turn over at once. ### Plain-language summary Liberty County's board of elections and registration currently has members appointed to four-year terms. Under existing law, three members appointed by the county's governing authority (the county commission) all have terms ending December 31, 2026, meaning the county could end up replacing them all at the same time. This bill changes that. When those three members' current terms expire at the end of 2026, their successors would serve a shorter, two-year term ending December 31, 2028, instead of a full four-year term. After that one-time two-year term, future successors to those seats would go back to serving regular four-year terms. The goal is to spread out when those seats come up for reappointment so they do not all expire in the same year going forward. ### What it does - Amends the 2003 law creating the Liberty County board of elections and registration to change how three specific board seats are filled after 2026. - Shortens the next term for successors to the three county-commission-appointed seats from four years to two years, ending December 31, 2028. - Returns those seats to the standard four-year term cycle for all appointments made after the initial two-year terms end. - Repeals any prior laws that conflict with these changes. ### Who it affects This bill directly affects the Liberty County board of elections and registration, specifically the three board members appointed by the Liberty County governing authority (county commission) and whoever succeeds them starting in 2027. ### Why it matters By breaking up a batch of same-year term expirations, the bill prevents Liberty County from having to replace multiple election board members all at once, which can affect board continuity and institutional knowledge during future election cycles. ### Key provisions - Section 1 amends Section 2, subsection (c) of the 2003 Liberty County elections board Act to add a new paragraph creating staggered terms. - New paragraph (2) applies specifically to the three members appointed by the county governing authority under subsection (b)(4) whose terms end December 31, 2026. - Their successors will serve an initial two-year term ending December 31, 2028, rather than the standard four-year term. - After that two-year term, future successors to those same seats revert to the normal four-year term structure under paragraph (1). - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-05-12) - Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-12 (2026-05-12) - Sponsors: Al Williams, Buddy DeLoach - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74054 > The history, votes, and amendments (887 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1547.md?full=1