---
title: HB 1589. Telfair County; Board of Commissioners; repeal term limit provisions
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1589
cite_as: HB 1589, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1589
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1589.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1589/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74314
date: 2026-03-25
status: introduced
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/hb1588.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1590.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1589.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1589
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-03-20
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
  - Danny Mathis
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1589/2025
upstream_id: 2136815
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - term limits
  - county government
  - Telfair County
  - local legislation
---

# HB 1589. Telfair County; Board of Commissioners; repeal term limit provisions

## Text

House Bill 1589
By: Representative Mathis of the 133rd
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend an Act reconstituting the Board of Commissioners of Telfair County, approved
June 3, 2003 (Ga. L. 2003, p. 3992), as amended, so as to repeal term limit provisions related
to members of the board of commissioners; 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 reconstituting the Board of Commissioners of Telfair County, approved June 3, 2003
(Ga. L. 2003, p. 3992), as amended, is amended by repealing and reserving Section 20,
relating to term limits for members of the board of commissioners.
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All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.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 repeal term limits for members of the Telfair County Board of Commissioners, allowing commissioners to serve without a cap on the number of terms.

### Plain-language summary

Telfair County's Board of Commissioners was reconstituted by a 2003 local Act of the Georgia General Assembly, which included a section setting term limits for board members. This bill would repeal that section, Section 20 of the 2003 Act, removing the limit on how many terms a commissioner can serve.
The bill does this by amending the 2003 Act and 'repealing and reserving' the term limit section, meaning the section number stays in place but its content is removed. It also repeals any other laws that conflict with the change. No new term limit rule is put in its place, and no effective date beyond standard enactment is specified in the text.

### What it does

- Repeals Section 20 of the 2003 Act that reconstituted the Telfair County Board of Commissioners, which set term limits for commissioners.
- Uses a 'repeal and reserve' method, removing the term limit language but keeping the section number reserved in the underlying law.
- Repeals any other state or local laws that conflict with this change.

### Who it affects

Current and future members of the Telfair County Board of Commissioners, who would no longer face a limit on how many terms they can serve, and Telfair County voters, who would be able to reelect the same commissioners indefinitely.

### Why it matters

Without term limits, Telfair County commissioners could run for reelection indefinitely instead of being forced out after a set number of terms. This changes who can hold a seat on the board and removes a built-in mechanism for regular turnover in county leadership.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 amends the 2003 local Act governing the Telfair County Board of Commissioners by repealing and reserving Section 20, which established term limits for board members.
- Section 2 repeals any laws or parts of laws that conflict with this Act.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2026-03-20)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-03-25)
- Sponsors: Danny Mathis
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74314

> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1589.md?full=1