--- title: HB 236. Bartow County; appointment of a county surveyor; provide collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb236 cite_as: HB 236, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb236 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb236.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb236/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69841 date: 2025-05-13 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 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/hb235.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb237.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 882 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb236.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 236 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-05-13 last_action: Effective Date 2025-05-13 sponsors: - Mitchell Scoggins - Matthew Gambill text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB236/2025 upstream_id: 1955679 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - Bartow County - county surveyor - local government appointments - elections --- # HB 236. Bartow County; appointment of a county surveyor; provide ## Text 25 LC 47 3259/AP House Bill 236 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Scoggins of the 14th and Gambill of the 15th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To abolish the office of elected county surveyor of Bartow Coun ty; to provide for the1 appointment of a county surveyor by the governing authority of the county; to provide that2 the person currently serving as elected county surveyor shall serve out the remainder of his3 or her term; to provide for successors; to provide for qualific ations; to provide for an4 effective date; to provide for related matters; to repeal confl icting laws; and for other5 purposes.6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:7 SECTION 1.8 Pursuant to the authority granted by Code Section 36-7-2.1 of t he O.C.G.A., the office of9 elected county surveyor of Bartow County is hereby abolished. The governing authority of10 Bartow County shall appoint a qualified person to hold the office of county surveyor for a11 term of one year from the date of appointment. Successors shall also be appointed for terms12 of one year. Any person appointed county surveyor shall possess the qualifications specified13 by paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of Code Section 36-7-2 of th e O.C.G.A. Any person14 elected and serving as the county surveyor of Bartow County on the effective date of this Act15 H. B. 236 - 1 - 25 LC 47 3259/AP shall continue to serve as such until the expiration of the current term to which such person16 was elected, and no further elections shall be held for such office.17 SECTION 2.18 This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law19 without such approval.20 SECTION 3.21 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.22 H. B. 236 - 2 - ## 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 end the elected office of county surveyor in Bartow County and let the county's governing authority appoint someone to the job instead, starting with the next term. ### Plain-language summary Bartow County currently elects its county surveyor, an official who handles land surveying matters for the county. This bill eliminates that elected position under authority granted by Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 36-7-2.1) and shifts to a system where the Bartow County governing authority (the county commission) appoints the surveyor instead. The appointed surveyor would serve a one-year term, with successors also appointed annually. Anyone appointed must meet the qualifications already set out in Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 36-7-2) for county surveyors. The person currently serving as the elected surveyor would finish out their current elected term, and no further elections for the office would be held after that. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it becomes law without his signature. ### What it does - Abolishes the elected office of county surveyor in Bartow County under authority granted by O.C.G.A. § 36-7-2.1. - Gives the Bartow County governing authority the power to appoint a county surveyor instead of holding elections. - Sets the appointed surveyor's term at one year, with successors also appointed for one-year terms. - Requires any appointed surveyor to meet the qualifications listed in O.C.G.A. § 36-7-2(b)(1). - Lets the currently elected surveyor finish out their existing term before the appointment system takes over. ### Who it affects This bill affects Bartow County government, which gains the power to appoint the county surveyor, the person currently holding that elected office, who keeps their seat until their term ends, and any future candidates for county surveyor in Bartow County, who will no longer run in elections. ### Why it matters Bartow County residents will no longer vote for their county surveyor, an official involved in land surveying decisions affecting property boundaries and county records. Instead, the county commission will select and reappoint this official annually, changing how accountable the position is to voters directly. ### Key provisions - Section 1 abolishes the elected office of county surveyor in Bartow County and transfers appointment power to the county's governing authority. - Section 1 sets appointed terms at one year and requires appointees to meet the qualifications in O.C.G.A. § 36-7-2(b)(1). - Section 1 allows the currently elected surveyor to serve out their remaining term with no further elections held afterward. - Section 2 makes the Act effective upon the Governor's approval or upon it becoming law without his signature. - Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-13) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-05-13 (2025-05-13) - Sponsors: Mitchell Scoggins, Matthew Gambill - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69841 > The history, votes, and amendments (882 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb236.md?full=1