--- title: HB 523. Local government; annexation contingent upon approval of county in which subject property is located; provide collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb523 cite_as: HB 523, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb523 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb523.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb523/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70503 date: 2025-02-21 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/hb522.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb524.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb523.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 523 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-02-19 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Joseph Gullett - Charles Cannon text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB523/2025 upstream_id: 1976329 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - annexation - local government - county authority - municipal boundaries - land use --- # HB 523. Local government; annexation contingent upon approval of county in which subject property is located; provide ## Text House Bill 523 By: Representatives Gullett of the 19th and Cannon of the 172nd A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 2 of Chapter 36 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to annexation pursuant to application by 100 percent of landowners, so as to provide that such annexations are contingent upon approval of the county in which the subject property is located; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Article 2 of Chapter 36 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to annexation pursuant to application by 100 percent of landowners, 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. 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. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, any proposed annexation pursuant to this article is contingent upon the adoption of a resolution by the governing authority of the county in which such property is located consenting to such annexation. 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." 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 523 would require Georgia municipalities to get county approval before annexing land through the 100 percent landowner application process, adding a new check on that annexation method. ### Plain-language summary Under current Georgia law, a municipality can annex unincorporated land that touches its borders if every owner of that land signs a written application requesting annexation, without needing county sign-off. HB523 changes that process by adding a new condition: the county where the property sits must first adopt a resolution consenting to the annexation before it can happen. The bill amends O.C.G.A. § 36-36-21, part of the law governing annexation by 100 percent landowner application. The rest of the existing process stays the same, including the requirement to file a description of the annexed property with the Department of Community Affairs and the county, and the rule treating all annexed land as one body regardless of the number of owners. The change would apply going forward once the bill becomes law, and it repeals any conflicting laws. ### What it does - Adds a requirement that county governing authorities must adopt a resolution consenting to an annexation before it can proceed under the 100 percent landowner application process. - Applies this new county consent requirement specifically to annexations under Article 2 of Chapter 36 of Title 36, the 100 percent landowner method. - Leaves in place the existing requirement that all landowners sign written applications describing the land to be annexed. - Keeps the existing requirement to file identification of newly annexed property with the Department of Community Affairs and the county governing authority. - Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this new county approval requirement. ### Who it affects Georgia municipalities that annex land through the 100 percent landowner application method, county governments that must now vote to approve or reject such annexations, and landowners seeking to have their property annexed into a city. ### Why it matters Currently, if every landowner agrees, a city can annex their property without county input. This bill gives counties veto power over those annexations, which could slow or block land from moving into city limits even when all affected landowners want it to happen. ### Key provisions - Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 36-36-21 to add that any annexation under this article is contingent on the county governing authority adopting a resolution consenting to it. - The new county consent requirement applies notwithstanding any other provisions of the chapter to the contrary, meaning it overrides conflicting language elsewhere in the annexation law. - The existing rule requiring identification of annexed property to be filed with the Department of Community Affairs and the county remains unchanged. - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard clause clearing away inconsistent statutes. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-02-19) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-21) - Sponsors: Joseph Gullett, Charles Cannon - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70503 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb523.md?full=1