--- title: HB 1599. Sandersville School Building Authority; members; revise qualification collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1599 cite_as: HB 1599, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1599 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1599.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1599/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74377 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/hb1598.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1600.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 898 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1599.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1599 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: - Mack Jackson text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1599/2025 upstream_id: 2137352 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - local government - school building authority - Washington County - Sandersville --- # HB 1599. Sandersville School Building Authority; members; revise qualification ## Text House Bill 1599 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representative Jackson of the 128th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act to create the Sandersville School Building Authority, approved March 6, 2015 (Ga. L. 2015, p. 3508), so as to revise qualification for members of the authority; 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 create the Sandersville School Building Authority, approved March 6, 2015 (Ga. L. 2015, p. 3508), is amended in Section 4 by revising paragraph (2) of subsection (a) as follows: "(2) Membership of the authority shall be residents of Washington County or any county that is contiguous to Washington County and shall include the following: (A) One representative of the Washington County Historical Society; (B) Two representatives of the arts community, one from visual arts and one from the local theater; (C) One representative of the kaolin industry; (D) One representative of the agricultural community, including agribusiness and the Cooperative Extension Service; (E) One representative of the Chamber of Commerce; and (F) Three members drawn from the community at large who have demonstrated a record of promoting Washington County and its welfare as well as having an interest in the welfare and promotion of the Sandersville school building." 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. House Bill 1599 would broaden who can serve on the Sandersville School Building Authority, letting residents of counties bordering Washington County qualify for seats, not just Washington County residents. ### Plain-language summary The Sandersville School Building Authority was created by a 2015 state law to oversee a school building project in Washington County. That law set specific membership categories, such as a representative of the Washington County Historical Society, arts community members, and representatives of the kaolin industry and agricultural community, and required members to live in Washington County. This bill amends the 2015 Act to expand the residency rule so that members can live in Washington County or in any county that touches its borders. The specific membership categories and seat counts, such as two arts representatives and three at-large members, stay the same. The bill repeals any conflicting laws and does not state a delayed effective date. ### What it does - Expands eligibility for the Sandersville School Building Authority so members can reside in Washington County or any county contiguous to it, rather than only Washington County. - Keeps the existing membership categories unchanged, including seats for the historical society, arts community, kaolin industry, agriculture, chamber of commerce, and at-large members. - Repeals any state or local laws that conflict with this residency change. ### Who it affects This affects residents of Washington County and neighboring counties who might serve on the Sandersville School Building Authority, as well as the authority itself, which oversees school building matters in the Sandersville area. ### Why it matters By allowing residents of nearby counties to fill authority seats, the bill widens the pool of eligible candidates, which could make it easier to fill required positions like the kaolin industry or arts representatives if qualified Washington County residents are unavailable. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of Section 4 of the 2015 Act to allow members to reside in Washington County or any contiguous county. - Section 1 restates the full list of required membership categories, including one Historical Society representative, two arts representatives, one kaolin industry representative, one agricultural representative, one Chamber of Commerce representative, and three at-large members. - Section 2 repeals any laws that conflict with this amendment. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-05-12) - Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-12 (2026-05-12) - Sponsors: Mack Jackson - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74377 > The history, votes, and amendments (898 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1599.md?full=1