---
title: HB 1578. Arcade, Town of; municipality; clarify name
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1578
cite_as: HB 1578, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1578
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1578.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1578/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74214
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/hb1577.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1579.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 886
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1578.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1578
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:
  - Houston Gaines
  - Emory Dunahoo
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1578/2025
upstream_id: 2135888
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - local government charters
  - municipal governance
  - city council rules
  - mayoral veto power
  - Arcade Georgia
---

# HB 1578. Arcade, Town of; municipality; clarify name

## Text

House Bill 1578 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By: Representatives Gaines of the 120th and Dunahoo of the 31st
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend an Act to provide a new charter for the Town of Arcade, approved April 5, 1995
(Ga. L. 1995, p. 4024), as amended, so as to clarify the name of the municipality; to make
conforming changes; to change the date of the organization meeting of the city council
following municipal elections; to revise provisions related to the form of ordinances; to
revise provisions related to emergency meetings of the city council; to provide for a mayoral
veto; to provide for related matters; 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 Town of Arcade, approved April 5, 1995 (Ga. L.
1995, p. 4024), as amended, is hereby amended by deleting any reference to "the Town of
Arcade" and to substitute in its place "the City of Arcade".
SECTION 2.
Said Act is further amended by deleting any reference to "journal" and to substitute in its
place "minutes".
SECTION 3.
Said Act is further amended by revising Section 2.18 as follows:
"SECTION 2.18.
Organizational meeting.
The city council shall hold an organizational meeting on the second Monday of January
following a municipal election. The meeting shall be called to order by the mayor or city
clerk and the oath of office shall be administered to the newly elected members as follows:
'I do solemnly (swear)(affirm) that I will faithfully perform the duties of
(mayor)(councilmember) of this City and that I will support and defend the charter
thereof as well as the Constitution and laws of the State of Georgia and the United States
of America.'"
SECTION 4.
Said Act is further amended by revising subsection (a) of Section 2.22 as follows:
"(a) Every proposed ordinance should be introduced in writing and in the form required
for final adoption. No ordinance shall contain a subject which is not expressed in its title."
SECTION 5.
Said Act is further amended by revising Section 2.24 as follows:
"SECTION 2.24.
Emergencies.
To meet a public emergency affecting life, health, property, or public peace, the city
council may convene on call of the mayor or two councilmembers and may promptly adopt
an emergency ordinance, but such ordinance may not levy taxes; grant, renew, or extend
a franchise; regulate the rate charged by any public utility for its services; or authorize the
borrowing of money except for loans to be repaid within days. An emergency ordinance
shall be introduced in the form prescribed for ordinances generally, except that it shall be
plainly designated as an emergency ordinance and shall contain, after the enacting clause,
a declaration stating that an emergency exists and shall describe the emergency in clear and
specific terms. An emergency ordinance may be adopted, with or without amendment, or
rejected at the meeting at which it is introduced. Such emergency ordinance shall become
effective upon adoption or at such later time as it may specify. Every emergency ordinance
shall automatically stand repealed 30 days following the date upon which it was adopted,
but this shall not prevent reenactment of the ordinance in the manner specified in this
section if the emergency continues to exist. An emergency ordinance may also be repealed
by adoption of a repealing ordinance in the same manner specified in this section for
adoption of emergency ordinances."
SECTION 6.
Said Act is further amended by revising Section 2.29 as follows:
"SECTION 2.29.
Powers and duties of the mayor.
(a) The mayor shall:
(1) Preside at all meetings of the city council;
(2) Be the head of the city for the purpose of service of process and for ceremonial
purposes and be the official spokesperson for the city and the chief advocate of policy;
(3) Have the power to administer oaths and to take affidavits;
(4) Sign as a matter of course on behalf of the city all written and approved contracts,
ordinances, and other instruments executed by the city which by law are required to be
in writing;
(5) Vote on matters before the city council as provided in this charter;
(6) Prepare and submit to the city council a recommended annual operating budget and
recommended capital budget; and
(7) Fulfill such other executive and administrative duties as the city council shall by
ordinance establish.
(b) Within 96 hours after the adjournment of any city council meeting, the city clerk shall
present to the mayor the draft record of proceedings of the meeting together with all
ordinances and resolutions adopted and actions taken at the meeting. Within seven days
of receipt of an ordinance or resolution or record of actions, the mayor shall return it to the
city clerk with his or her signature for approval or with his or her veto. If an ordinance,
resolution, or action is vetoed, the mayor shall attach a written statement explaining the
reasons for his or her veto. Ordinances, resolutions, or actions vetoed by the mayor shall
be considered at the next regular meeting of the city council, and the city council may pass
the ordinance, resolution, or action over the veto by the affirmative vote of four of its
members. The effective date of an ordinance, resolution, or action passed over the mayor's
veto shall not be less than 15 days after the date of final passage. The mayor's veto power
shall extend to disapproving or reducing individual appropriation items in the budget or any
ordinance, resolution, or action, except appropriations for auditing or investigating any part
of the executive branch. The mayor shall not have the power to veto any emergency
ordinance."
SECTION 7.
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 Georgia House bill would rename the Town of Arcade as the City of Arcade in its city charter and make several updates to how the city council runs meetings, adopts ordinances, and handles a new mayoral veto.

### Plain-language summary

The Town of Arcade currently operates under a 1995 charter that refers to it as a 'town' and uses the word 'journal' for meeting records. This bill changes every reference to 'the Town of Arcade' to 'the City of Arcade' and every reference to 'journal' to 'minutes' throughout the charter.
Beyond the name change, the bill moves the city council's yearly organizational meeting to the second Monday of January after a municipal election, tweaks the rules for how ordinances must be written, and updates the procedure for emergency ordinances during public emergencies. It also adds a new power letting the mayor veto ordinances, resolutions, or council actions, subject to the city council overriding that veto with four affirmative votes. The bill repeals any conflicting laws and does not state a separate effective date beyond standard enactment.

### What it does

- Renames the municipality from 'the Town of Arcade' to 'the City of Arcade' everywhere it appears in the 1995 charter.
- Replaces the term 'journal' with 'minutes' throughout the charter to describe official meeting records.
- Moves the city council's organizational meeting to the second Monday of January following a municipal election and sets the oath of office wording.
- Clarifies that proposed ordinances must be introduced in writing in their final form and cannot cover a subject not expressed in the title.
- Revises the emergency ordinance process, including how emergencies must be declared and a 30 day automatic repeal of emergency ordinances.
- Creates a mayoral veto power over ordinances, resolutions, and council actions, letting the council override it with four affirmative votes.

### Who it affects

The mayor and city council members of the City (formerly Town) of Arcade, the city clerk who manages meeting records and ordinance transmittal, and residents of Arcade who are affected by how local ordinances and emergency measures are adopted and vetoed.

### Why it matters

The name change formally updates Arcade's legal status in its own charter documents. The added mayoral veto and revised emergency ordinance rules shift the balance of power in local government, giving the mayor a formal check on council actions while requiring a supermajority vote to override it.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 replaces all references to 'the Town of Arcade' with 'the City of Arcade' throughout the 1995 charter.
- Section 2 replaces the word 'journal' with 'minutes' wherever it appears in the charter.
- Section 3 revises Section 2.18 to set the organizational meeting for the second Monday of January and specify the oath of office.
- Section 4 revises Section 2.22(a) on how proposed ordinances must be written and titled.
- Section 5 revises Section 2.24, detailing what emergency ordinances can and cannot do and setting a 30 day automatic repeal.
- Section 6 revises Section 2.29 to add mayoral veto power, including a seven day review period and a four vote council override.
- Section 7 repeals all laws in conflict with the Act.

## Status

- Status: Passed (2026-05-11)
- Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 (2026-05-11)
- Sponsors: Houston Gaines, Emory Dunahoo
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74214

> The history, votes, and amendments (886 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1578.md?full=1