---
title: HB 1590. Telfair County; county officers; ineligible to hold office under certain conditions; repeal amendment
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1590
cite_as: HB 1590, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1590
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1590.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1590/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74315
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/hb1589.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1591.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1590.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1590
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/HB1590/2025
upstream_id: 2136829
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - Telfair County government
  - term limits
  - local elections
  - county officers
  - referendum
---

# HB 1590. Telfair County; county officers; ineligible to hold office under certain conditions; repeal amendment

## Text

House Bill 1590
By: Representative Mathis of the 133rd
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To repeal the amendment to the Constitution of Georgia providing that the county officers
of Telfair County shall be ineligible to hold office under certain conditions; to provide for
legislative intent; to provide for a referendum, effective dates, automatic repeal, mandatory
execution of election, and judicial remedies regarding failure to comply; to provide for
related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
The amendment to the Constitution of Georgia providing that the county officers of Telfair
County shall be ineligible to hold office under certain circumstances, which amendment was
proposed by 1963 House Resolution No. 102-230, Resolution Act No. 76 (Ga. L. 1963,
p. 705) and was continued in force and effect by an Act approved March 25, 1986
(Ga. L. 1986, p. 4527), is hereby repealed.
SECTION 2.
The election superintendent of Telfair County shall call and conduct an election as provided
in this section for the purpose of submitting this Act to the electors of Telfair County for
approval or rejection. The election superintendent shall conduct such election on the date
of the 2026 general election and shall issue the call and conduct such election as provided
by general law. The election superintendent shall cause the date and purpose of the election
to be published once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the date thereof in the
official organ of Telfair County. The ballot shall have written or printed thereon the words:
"( ) YES Shall the Act be approved which repeals the amendment to the Constitution
( ) NO of Georgia that provided for term limits for the county officers of Telfair
County?"
All persons desiring to vote for approval of the Act shall vote "Yes," and all persons desiring
to vote for rejection of the Act shall vote "No." If more than one-half of the votes cast on
such question are for approval of the Act, Section 1 of this Act shall become of full force and
effect immediately. If this Act is not so approved or if the election is not conducted as
provided in this section, Section 1 of this Act shall not become effective, and this Act shall
be automatically repealed on the 365th calendar day following the election date provided for
in this section. The expense of such election shall be borne by Telfair County. It shall be
the election superintendent's duty to certify the result thereof to the Secretary of State. The
provisions of this section shall be mandatory upon the election superintendent and are not
intended as directory. If the election superintendent fails or refuses to comply with this
section, any elector of Telfair County may apply for a writ of mandamus to compel the
election superintendent to perform his or her duties under this section. If the court finds that
the election superintendent has not complied with this section, the court shall fashion
appropriate relief requiring the election superintendent to call and conduct such election on
the date required by this section or on the next date authorized for special elections provided
for in Code Section 21-2-540 of the O.C.G.A.
SECTION 3.
In repealing this local constitutional amendment, it is the intent of the General Assembly to
remove the term limits for the county officers of Telfair County who are the sheriff, the clerk
of superior court, the judge of the probate court, the tax commissioner, the magistrate judge,
and the coroner. The repeal of this local constitutional amendment shall not affect the term
limits for the members of the Board of Commissioners of Telfair County who shall remain
subject to the term limit provisions of Section 20 of an Act approved June 3, 2003
(Ga. L. 2003, p. 3992), as amended.
SECTION 4.
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 a decades-old constitutional amendment that made certain Telfair County officers ineligible to hold office after serving limited terms, pending voter approval in the 2026 general election.

### Plain-language summary

Telfair County currently operates under a special 1963 amendment to the Georgia Constitution that sets term limits for certain county officers by making them ineligible to keep serving under certain conditions. This bill would repeal that amendment, but only if Telfair County voters approve the change in a referendum.

The bill requires the county's election superintendent to place the question on the ballot during the 2026 general election, with public notice printed for two weeks beforehand. If a majority vote yes, the repeal takes effect immediately. If voters reject it or the election is not held as required, the bill automatically repeals itself 365 days after the election date. The bill specifies its intent is to remove term limits for the sheriff, clerk of superior court, probate judge, tax commissioner, magistrate judge, and coroner, but not for county commissioners, who remain subject to separate term limit rules.

### What it does

- Repeals the 1963 constitutional amendment that made certain Telfair County officers ineligible to hold office under certain conditions, contingent on voter approval.
- Requires the Telfair County election superintendent to hold a referendum on the repeal during the 2026 general election.
- Sets an automatic repeal of the entire Act 365 days after the election if voters reject it or the election is not properly conducted.
- Allows any Telfair County voter to seek a court order (writ of mandamus) forcing the election superintendent to conduct the required election.
- Clarifies that removing term limits applies to the sheriff, clerk of superior court, probate judge, tax commissioner, magistrate judge, and coroner, but not county commissioners.

### Who it affects

Telfair County voters, who must approve the change in a referendum; the sheriff, clerk of superior court, probate judge, tax commissioner, magistrate judge, and coroner, whose term limits would be removed; and the county election superintendent, who must administer the vote.

### Why it matters

If approved, the named Telfair County officeholders would no longer face the eligibility restrictions tied to term limits, potentially allowing them to run for additional terms. The outcome depends entirely on how Telfair County voters decide in the 2026 general election.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 repeals the constitutional amendment from 1963 House Resolution 102-230 that limited eligibility for Telfair County officers.
- Section 2 requires a referendum during the 2026 general election, with specific ballot language, public notice requirements, and certification to the Secretary of State.
- Section 2 provides that if voters reject the measure or the election is not properly held, the entire Act is automatically repealed 365 days after the election.
- Section 2 allows a court to compel the election superintendent to conduct the election via mandamus if the superintendent fails to comply.
- Section 3 states the repeal applies to term limits for the sheriff, clerk of superior court, probate judge, tax commissioner, magistrate judge, and coroner, but not to county commissioners, who remain under separate 2003 term limit rules.

## 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/74315

> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1590.md?full=1