--- title: HB 1587. Cobb County; abolish office of elected county surveyor; provide appointment collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1587 cite_as: HB 1587, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1587 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1587.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1587/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74271 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/hb1586.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1588.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 887 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1587.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1587 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: - Gabriel Sanchez - David Wilkerson - Sheila Jones - Lisa Campbell - Jordan Ridley - Joseph Gullett text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1587/2025 upstream_id: 2136365 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - Cobb County government - local elections - county surveyor - appointed officials --- # HB 1587. Cobb County; abolish office of elected county surveyor; provide appointment ## Text House Bill 1587 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Sanchez of the 42nd, Wilkerson of the 38th, Jones of the 60th, Campbell of the 35th, Ridley of the 22nd, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To abolish the office of elected county surveyor of Cobb County; to provide for the appointment of a county surveyor by the governing authority of the county after January 1, 2029; to provide for successors; to provide for qualifications; to provide for an effective date; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Pursuant to the authority granted by Code Section 36-7-2.1 of the O.C.G.A., as of January 1, 2029, the office of elected county surveyor of Cobb County shall be abolished. After such date the governing authority of Cobb County shall appoint a qualified person to hold the office of county surveyor. The appointing resolution may provide for the term of appointment; otherwise, the county surveyor shall serve an indefinite term at the pleasure of the governing authority. Successors shall be appointed in the same manner. Any person appointed county surveyor shall possess the qualifications specified by paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of Code Section 36-7-2 of the O.C.G.A. SECTION 2. This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval. SECTION 3. 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 1587 abolishes the elected office of Cobb County surveyor starting January 1, 2029, and requires the county's governing authority to appoint the surveyor instead of voters electing one. ### Plain-language summary Cobb County currently elects its county surveyor, an office responsible for official land surveying duties in the county. This bill uses authority granted under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 36-7-2.1) to end that elected office as of January 1, 2029. After that date, the Cobb County governing authority (the county commission) will appoint a qualified person to serve as county surveyor instead of having voters choose one. The appointing resolution can set a term length; if it does not, the surveyor serves an indefinite term at the pleasure of the governing authority, and future successors are appointed the same way. Anyone appointed must meet the same qualifications already required of elected county surveyors under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 36-7-2). The bill takes effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law. ### What it does - Abolishes the elected office of county surveyor in Cobb County effective January 1, 2029. - Shifts the selection method for county surveyor from a countywide election to appointment by the Cobb County governing authority. - Allows the governing authority to set a fixed term in the appointing resolution, or default to an indefinite term at its pleasure. - Requires future successors to be appointed the same way, ending elections for this office going forward. - Requires any appointed surveyor to meet the same qualifications currently required of elected surveyors under state law (O.C.G.A. § 36-7-2). ### Who it affects Cobb County voters, who will no longer elect a county surveyor after 2029; the Cobb County governing authority, which gains appointment power; current and future candidates for the office of county surveyor; and anyone relying on official land surveys in Cobb County. ### Why it matters Once this takes effect, Cobb County residents will no longer vote for their county surveyor. Instead, the county commission will pick and can remove that official at will, changing who holds accountability for surveying decisions from the electorate to elected commissioners. ### Key provisions - Section 1 abolishes the elected office of Cobb County surveyor as of January 1, 2029, citing the authority in O.C.G.A. § 36-7-2.1. - Section 1 directs the Cobb County governing authority to appoint a qualified person to the office after that date. - Section 1 lets the appointing resolution set a term, defaulting to an indefinite term at the governing authority's pleasure if it does not. - Section 1 requires appointees to meet the qualifications in O.C.G.A. § 36-7-2(b)(1). - Section 2 sets the effective date as upon the Governor's approval or the bill otherwise becoming law. - Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-05-12) - Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-12 (2026-05-12) - Sponsors: Gabriel Sanchez, David Wilkerson, Sheila Jones, Lisa Campbell, Jordan Ridley, Joseph Gullett - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74271 > The history, votes, and amendments (887 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1587.md?full=1