--- title: HB 699. Dawson County; board of elections and registration; provide staggered terms collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb699 cite_as: HB 699, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb699 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb699.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb699/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71066 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/hb698.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb700.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 884 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb699.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 699 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: - Will Wade - Johnny Chastain text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB699/2025 upstream_id: 1990326 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - election administration - Dawson County - local government - board terms --- # HB 699. Dawson County; board of elections and registration; provide staggered terms ## Text 25 LC 62 0111/AP House Bill 699 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Wade of the 9th and Chastain of the 7th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act creating a board of elections and registration for Dawson County, approved1 April 23, 1998 (Ga. L. 1998, p. 4680), as amended, to provide f or staggered terms of the2 board; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:4 SECTION 1.5 An Act creating a board of elections and registration for Dawson County, approved April 23,6 1998 (Ga. L. 1998, p. 4680), as amended, is amended by revising paragraph (3) of7 subsection (b) of Section 2 as follows:8 "(3)(A) The governing authority of Dawson County shall designate one of the initial9 members appointed pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of this subsection10 and one of the initial members appointed pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1)11 of this subsection to serve for terms ending on December 31, 20 24, and until their12 successors are appointed and qualified.13 (B) The governing authority of Dawson County shall designate o ne of the initial14 members appointed pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of this subsection15 and one of the initial members appointed pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1)16 H. B. 699 - 1 - 25 LC 62 0111/AP of this subsection to serve for terms ending on December 31, 20 26, and until their17 successors are appointed and qualified.18 (C) Successors to members designated pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this19 paragraph shall be appointed to serve terms of four years and u ntil their respective20 successors are appointed and qualified."21 SECTION 2.22 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.23 H. B. 699 - 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. House Bill 699 revises the term structure for members of the Dawson County board of elections and registration, setting staggered end dates for initial members so their terms do not all expire at once. ### Plain-language summary Dawson County's board of elections and registration was created by a 1998 state law. This bill rewrites part of that law dealing with how long the board's initial members serve. Under the change, the county governing authority must designate certain initial members to serve terms ending December 31, 2024, and designate other initial members to serve terms ending December 31, 2026, creating a staggered schedule instead of having all terms expire simultaneously. Once those initial staggered terms end, successors to those members would serve regular four-year terms and continue serving until their replacements are appointed and qualified. The bill repeals any conflicting laws. It applies specifically to Dawson County's election board and does not change election board rules anywhere else in Georgia. ### What it does - Rewrites paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of Section 2 of the 1998 Dawson County elections board law to stagger initial members' terms. - Requires the county governing authority to designate some initial board members to terms ending December 31, 2024. - Requires the county governing authority to designate other initial board members to terms ending December 31, 2026. - Sets four-year terms for successors to those designated members, who serve until their own successors are appointed and qualified. - Repeals any prior laws that conflict with this staggered-term arrangement. ### Who it affects Members of the Dawson County board of elections and registration, the Dawson County governing authority responsible for appointing them, and Dawson County voters who rely on that board to run local elections. ### Why it matters By staggering when board members' terms expire, the county avoids having the entire elections board turn over at the same time, which can help preserve institutional knowledge and continuity on the board that oversees Dawson County's voting processes. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of Section 2 of the 1998 Act creating the Dawson County board of elections and registration. - Subparagraph (A) sets certain initial members' terms to end December 31, 2024, and until successors are appointed and qualified. - Subparagraph (B) sets other initial members' terms to end December 31, 2026, and until successors are appointed and qualified. - Subparagraph (C) sets all subsequent successor terms at four years, continuing until a successor is appointed and qualified. - Section 2 repeals any laws or parts of laws that conflict with this Act. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-13) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-05-13 (2025-05-13) - Sponsors: Will Wade, Johnny Chastain - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71066 > The history, votes, and amendments (884 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb699.md?full=1