HB 1580: Henry County Airport Authority; current operative provisions; repeal and replace

The Henry County Airport Authority was created by a 2023 Georgia law. This bill replaces almost all of that law's operative sections with new language covering the same ground: how the Authority is organized, who serves on it, what it can do, and how it can borrow money. The rewritten law sets the Authority at seven members plus two ex-officio members (the Henry County manager and the executive director of the Henry County Development Authority), spells out how members are nominated and appointed, and requires quarterly meetings. It restates the Authority's power to acquire, build, and operate airports and related facilities, to issue revenue bonds to pay for projects, and to use eminent domain for airport purposes. It also makes clear that Henry County itself is not liable for the Authority's debts and that Authority bonds are exempt from state taxation. The changes take effect when the bill becomes law, and all conflicting laws are repealed.

• Repeals and replaces Sections 2 through 32 of the 2023 Act that created the Henry County Airport Authority, rewriting nearly all of its operating rules.
• Sets Authority membership at seven unpaid members plus the Henry County manager and the Henry County Development Authority's executive director as ex-officio members, with at least five members living in Henry County.
• Establishes an appointment process where the Henry County governing authority appoints members, some based on nominations from the county's legislative delegation.
• Authorizes the Authority to issue revenue bonds, secured only by its own revenues and not backed by Henry County's credit or taxing power, to fund airport projects.
• Grants the Authority eminent domain power to condemn real property, rights-of-way, or easements needed for airport purposes.
• Requires the Authority to meet at least quarterly and hold its first annual meeting each July to elect a chairman and secretary-treasurer.

Henry County residents and taxpayers, the Henry County Airport Authority and its board members, the Henry County governing authority and its legislative delegation, the Henry County Development Authority, and any bondholders, contractors, or businesses that deal with the airport authority's projects and financing.

The rewrite changes how the Authority is staffed and governed and clarifies that its debts cannot become Henry County's debts, which affects the county's financial exposure. It also keeps in place the Authority's power to borrow through bonds and to condemn private property for airport projects, both of which directly affect landowners and taxpayers near the airport.

• Section 2 recreates the Authority as a political subdivision and public corporation with perpetual existence, immune from tort liability for its officers' and employees' actions.
• Section 3 sets membership at seven members plus two ex-officio members, requiring at least five members to reside in Henry County, and defines the appointment and nomination process.
• Section 4 requires quarterly meetings, with a July annual meeting to elect a chairman and secretary-treasurer, and sets a four-member quorum.
• Sections 8 through 22 authorize the Authority to issue and refund revenue bonds under Georgia's Revenue Bond Law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 82 of Title 36), exempt from state taxation.
• Section 17 specifies that revenue bonds do not create a debt of Henry County and cannot obligate the county to levy taxes or make payments toward them.
• Section 23 requires bonds to be validated through the courts under the Revenue Bond Law's validation procedures.
• Section 31 grants the Authority eminent domain power to condemn property for carrying out the Act's purposes.
• Section 2 of the amending bill repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2026-05-11Effective Date 2026-05-11
2. 2026-05-11Act 605
3. 2026-05-11House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-04-02Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2026-04-02Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
7. 2026-03-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2026-03-25House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)

• El-Mahdi Holly (D, HD-116)Primary sponsor
• Demetrius Douglas (D, HD-078)
• Mary Ann Santos (D, HD-117)
• Regina Lewis-Ward (D, HD-115)
• Robert Flournoy (D, HD-074)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 25, 2026

   164 yea, 0 nay (8 not voting, 4 absent)

   Local Calendar : House Vote #754

2. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2026

   49 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 2 absent)

   Local Consent Calendar: Senate Vote #927

• Henry County government
• airport authority
• local government bonds
• eminent domain
• special legislation