---
title: HB 521. Local government; deannexation of certain properties; revise procedures
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb521
cite_as: HB 521, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb521
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb521.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb521/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70501
date: 2026-03-31
status: engrossed
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 1273
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb521.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 521
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-03-06
last_action: Senate Tabled
sponsors:
- Victor Anderson
- John LaHood
- Rob Leverett
- Charles Cannon
- Trey Kelley
- Clint Crowe
- Clint Dixon
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB521/2025
upstream_id: 1976290
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- annexation and deannexation
- local government
- county consent
- municipal boundaries
- property reporting
---
# HB 521. Local government; deannexation of certain properties; revise procedures
## Text
The Senate Committee on State and Local Governmental Operations - General offered
the following substitute to HB 521:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 36 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
annexation of territory, so as to provide for equal reporting requirements for annexations and
deannexations; to provide that certain such annexations are contingent upon approval of the
county in which the subject property is located; to revise procedures related to the
deannexation of certain properties; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective
date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 36 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to annexation of
territory, is amended by revising Code Section 36-36-3, relating to report identifying annexed
property, maps and surveys, technical assistance to municipalities, and preclearance, as
follows:
"36-36-3.
(a) The clerk, city attorney, or other person designated by the governing authority of any
municipality annexing or deannexing property shall file a report identifying any property
annexed or deannexed with the Department of Community Affairs, the Legislative and
Congressional Reapportionment Office of the General Assembly, and with the county
governing authority of the county in which the property being annexed or deannexed is
located. Such reports shall be filed, at a minimum, not more than 30 days following the
last day of the quarter in which the annexation or deannexation becomes effective but may
be filed more frequently. Each report shall include the following:
(1) The legal authority under which the annexation or deannexation was accomplished,
which shall be the ordinance or resolution number for any annexation or deannexation
effected pursuant to Article 2, 3, 4, or 6, or 8 of this chapter or the Act number if effected
by local Act of the General Assembly;
(2) The name of the county in which the property being annexed or deannexed is located;
the total acreage annexed or deannexed; the enactment date and effective date of the
annexation or deannexation ordinance, resolution, or local Act of the General Assembly;
(3) A letter from the governing authority of any municipality annexing or deannexing
property stating its intent to add the annexed area to, or remove the deannexed area from,
maps provided by the United States Bureau of the Census during their next regularly
scheduled boundary and annexation survey of the municipality and stating that the survey
and map will be completed as instructed and returned to the United States Bureau of the
Census;
(4) A list identifying roadways, bridges, and rights of way on state routes that are
annexed or deannexed and, if necessary, the total mileage annexed or deannexed; and
(5) A digital shapefile of the annexed or deannexed area.
(b) The submission of a report required under subsection (a) of this Code section shall be
made in writing and in electronic format to the Department of Community Affairs, the
Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office of the General Assembly, and to
others as required by the submitting municipality.
(c)(1) The Department of Community Affairs shall notify the clerk, city attorney, or
other person designated by the governing authority of the annexing or deannexing
municipality within 30 days after receipt of a report submitted under subsection (a) of this
Code section if it determines the submission to be incomplete. The Legislative and
Congressional Reapportionment Office of the General Assembly shall notify the clerk,
city attorney, or other person designated by the governing authority of the annexing or
deannexing municipality within 60 days after receipt of a report submitted under
subsection (a) of this Code section if it determines the submission to be incomplete. The
annexing or deannexing municipality shall file a corrected report with the department,
Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office of the General Assembly, and the
county governing authority where the annexed or deannexed property is located within
45 days from the date of the notice of any deficiency.
(2) No annexed or deannexed area shall be added to or removed from the state map until
such report has been properly submitted to the Department of Community Affairs and the
Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office of the General Assembly. The
Department of Community Affairs shall not provide a certification of annexation or
deannexation to the United States Census Bureau unless the governing authority of the
annexing or deannexing municipality has filed a completed report as required under
subsection (a) of this Code section.
(3) Compliance with the requirements of this Code section shall be construed to be
merely ancillary to and not an integral part of the annexation or deannexation procedure
such that an annexation or deannexation shall, if otherwise authorized by law, become
effective even though required filings under this Code section are temporarily delayed.
(d) The Department of Community Affairs may provide technical assistance to any
municipality with respect to the requirements of subsection (a) of this Code section.
(e) The Department of Community Affairs shall maintain the annexation and deannexation
reports submitted to it pursuant to this Code section for two years. Such Annexation
reports shall be subject to disclosure and inspection under Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title
50 while maintained in the possession of the Department of Community Affairs. Two
years after receipt of an annexation or deannexation report from a municipality, the
Department of Community Affairs shall transfer possession of such report to the Division
of Archives and History for permanent retention.
(f) In the event that any municipality annexing or deannexing property cannot produce the
digital shapefile required by paragraph (5) of subsection (a) of this Code section by
utilizing its own geographic information system, the regional commission established
pursuant to Article 2 of Chapter 8 of Title 50 for the county that includes such municipality
shall assist such municipality in producing and providing such digital shapefile.
(g) The governing authority of any municipality annexing or deannexing property shall
add all annexed areas to, and remove all deannexed areas from, maps provided by the
United States Census Bureau during the next regularly scheduled boundary and annexation
survey of the municipality, complete the survey and map as instructed, and return them to
the United States Census Bureau within the time frame requested."
SECTION 2.
Said chapter is further amended is amended by revising Code Section 36-36-21, relating to
annexation upon application of all land owners, filing of identification of annexed property
with Department of Community Affairs and county governing authority, and effect of
annexation, as follows:
"36-36-21.
(a) Authority is granted to the governing bodies of the several municipal corporations of
this state to annex to the existing corporate limits thereof unincorporated areas contiguous
to the existing corporate limits at the time of such annexation, in accordance with the
procedures provided in this article and in Article 1 of this chapter, upon the written and
signed applications of all of the owners of all of the land, except the owners of any public
street, road, highway, or right of way, proposed to be annexed, containing a complete
description of the lands to be annexed. Lands to be annexed at any one time shall be
treated as one body, regardless of the number of owners, and all parts shall be considered
as adjoining the limits of the municipal corporation when any one part of the entire body
abuts such limits. When such application is acted upon by the municipal authorities and
the land is, by ordinance, annexed to the municipal corporation, an identification of the
property so annexed shall be filed with the Department of Community Affairs and with the
governing authority of the county in which the property is located in accordance with Code
Section 36-36-3. When so annexed, such lands shall constitute a part of the lands within
the corporate limits of the municipal corporation as completely and fully as if the limits had
been marked and defined by local Act of the General Assembly. Except as provided in
subsection (c) of Code Section 36-36-20, nothing in this article shall be construed to
authorize annexation of the length of any public right of way except to the extent that such
right of way adjoins private property otherwise annexed by the municipal corporation.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, in any county in
which an airport is owned or operated either by such county or a local authority and such
airport is adjacent to 9,000 acres or more of property currently or formerly owned by a
municipality that has no incorporated territory within such county, any proposed
annexation pursuant to this article is contingent upon the adoption of a resolution by the
governing authority of such county consenting to such annexation.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, in any county in
which a municipality is located both in such county and in a massively municipalized
county as provided for in Code Section 36-62-4.1, any proposed annexation pursuant to this
article by any municipality located within such county that also has two city
councilmembers elected from the city at large as well as at least two councilmembers
elected from districts or wards is contingent upon the adoption of a resolution by the
governing authority of such county consenting to such annexation; provided, however, that
this subsection shall not apply to any municipality located in a county where a tax is levied
for purposes of a metropolitan area system of public transportation, as authorized by the
amendment to the Constitution set out at Georgia Laws, 1964, page 1008, the continuation
of such amendment under Article XI, Section I, Paragraph IV(d) of the Constitution, and
the laws enacted pursuant to such constitutional amendment.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, in any county
with an unincorporated county seat where the county government owns and operates
utilities offering broadband services that directly support institutions and infrastructure
including, but not limited to, county, local school system, or municipal government
buildings, traffic signals, water and sewer infrastructure, 911 services, law enforcement,
fire departments, and emergency management, and where such county abuts a military
garrison of over 5,000 or more active duty personnel, any proposed annexation pursuant
to this article by any municipality located within such county is contingent upon the
adoption of a resolution by the governing authority of such county consenting to such
annexation."
SECTION 3.
Said chapter is further amended in Code Section 36-36-131, relating to application for
deannexation, scope, filing of notification of deannexation, and reannexation, by revising
subsection (a) as follows:
"(a) Authority is granted to the governing authority of any municipality to deannex an area
or areas of the existing corporate limits thereof, in accordance with the procedures provided
in this article and in Article 1 of this chapter, upon the written and signed applications of
all of the owners of all of the land, except the owners of any public street, road, highway,
or right of way, proposed to be deannexed, containing a complete description of the lands
to be deannexed; provided, however, that no more than ten parcels of property may be
deannexed in one action and only upon the adoption of a resolution by the governing
authority of the county in which such property is located consenting to such deannexation.
If the governing authority of the county consents to the deannexation and the deannexation
conforms with the requirements of this article, the governing authority of the municipal
corporation shall approve such deannexation unless it finds that the deannexation would
be detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the residents and property owners of the
area to be deannexed or to the area remaining within the municipality. If the county is the
owner of all parcels proposed for deannexation and the governing authority of the county
consents, the governing authority of the municipal corporation shall approve such
deannexation within 90 days of the date of the filing of a deannexation application unless
it finds that the deannexation would be detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the
residents and property owners of the area to be deannexed or to the area remaining within
the municipality."
SECTION 4.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law
without such approval.
SECTION 5.
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.
This Georgia House bill would require cities to report property deannexations the same way they report annexations, and would make certain annexations and deannexations contingent on county approval.
### Plain-language summary
Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 36 of Title 36), cities that annex new territory must file detailed reports with the Department of Community Affairs, the General Assembly's reapportionment office, and the county where the property sits. This bill extends that same reporting duty to deannexations, when a city removes property from its corporate limits, covering the legal authority used, acreage, effective dates, road mileage, and digital maps.
The bill also adds new limits. In certain counties, such as those with a large airport next to formerly city-owned land, or counties containing municipalities with mixed at-large and district council seats, or counties that provide broadband to key infrastructure and sit near a large military base, a proposed annexation cannot proceed unless the county government first passes a resolution consenting to it. Separately, the bill revises deannexation procedure: no more than ten parcels can be deannexed in one action, county consent is still required, and if a county owns all the affected parcels and consents, the city must act on the deannexation application within 90 days unless it would harm residents' health, safety, or welfare. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.
### What it does
- Requires cities to file the same detailed reports for deannexations (removing property from city limits) that they already file for annexations, covering acreage, dates, roads, and maps.
- Makes certain annexations contingent on county government approval in counties with specific circumstances, such as a large airport adjacent to formerly city-owned land or a military garrison paired with county-run broadband infrastructure.
- Caps deannexation actions at no more than ten parcels at a time and continues to require county consent before a deannexation can proceed.
- Sets a 90-day deadline for a city to act on a deannexation request when the county owns all the parcels involved and has consented, unless the deannexation would harm residents' health, safety, or welfare.
- Directs the Department of Community Affairs to keep deannexation reports for two years, matching how it already handles annexation reports, before transferring them to the Division of Archives and History.
### Who it affects
Georgia municipal governments that annex or deannex property, county governments that must now consent to certain annexations and deannexations, property owners seeking deannexation, the Department of Community Affairs, and the General Assembly's Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office.
### Why it matters
Cities gain new reporting duties whenever they shrink their boundaries, giving counties and state offices better records of where city limits actually sit. In specific counties, cities would lose some unilateral power to annex land without county buy-in, and property owners seeking deannexation face a firmer process with a parcel cap and a defined timeline.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 36-36-3 so every reporting requirement that applies to annexations (legal authority, acreage, dates, road mileage, shapefiles, two-year record retention) also applies to deannexations.
- Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 36-36-21 to add three new conditions where a proposed annexation is contingent on a county resolution of consent: airport-adjacent former municipal land, counties with mixed at-large/district council municipalities, and counties with broadband-serving utilities near a large military garrison.
- Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 36-36-131 to cap deannexation actions at ten parcels per action and require a county consent resolution before deannexation can proceed.
- Section 3 also adds a 90-day deadline for a municipality to approve a deannexation application when the county owns all the parcels and has consented, absent a finding of harm to health, safety, or welfare.
- Section 4 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill, or its becoming law without signature.
## Status
- Status: Engrossed (2025-03-06)
- Last action: Senate Tabled (2026-03-31)
- Sponsors: Victor Anderson, John LaHood, Rob Leverett, Charles Cannon, Trey Kelley, Clint Crowe, Clint Dixon
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70501
> The history, votes, and amendments (1,273 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb521.md?full=1