Senate Bill 469
By: Senators Still of the 48th and Dolezal of the 27th
AS PASSED
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend an Act creating a board of commissioners of Forsyth County, approved
June 30, 1964 (Ga. L. 1964 Ex. Sess., p. 2225), as amended, so as to provide for term limits;
to provide for a referendum, effective dates, automatic repeal, mandatory execution of
election, and judicial remedies regarding failure to comply; 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 creating a board of commissioners of Forsyth County, approved June 30, 1964
(Ga. L. 1964 Ex. Sess., p. 2225), as amended, particularly by an Act approved
February 17, 2022 (Ga. L. 2022, p. 4666), is amended by adding a new section to read as
follows:
"SECTION 2.1.
No person elected to the board of commissioners after January 1, 2027, who has been
elected to and served two full terms of office as a commissioner shall be eligible for
election to a successive term of office as a commissioner until after the expiration of four
years from the conclusion of his or her last term as a member of the board of
commissioners. Any terms served, fully or in part, prior to the effective date of this section
shall apply to the term limit provided for in this section."
SECTION 2.
The election superintendent of Forsyth County shall call and conduct an election as provided
in this section for the purpose of submitting this Act to the electors of Forsyth County for
approval or rejection. The election superintendent shall conduct that election on Tuesday
following the first Monday in November, 2026 and shall issue the call and conduct that
election as provided by general law. The election superintendent shall cause the date and
purpose of the election to be published once a week for two weeks immediately preceding
the date thereof in the official organ of Forsyth County. The ballot shall have written or
printed thereon the words:
"( ) YES Shall the Act be approved which provides a term limit of two consecutive
( ) NO terms upon the members of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners?"
All persons desiring to vote for approval of the Act shall vote "Yes," and all persons desiring
to vote for rejection of the Act shall vote "No." If more than one-half of the votes cast on
such question are for approval of the Act, Section 1 of this Act shall become of full force and
effect on January 1, 2027. If the Act is not so approved or if the election is not conducted
as provided in this section, Section 1 of this Act shall not become effective, and this Act shall
be automatically repealed on the 365th calendar day following the election date provided for
in this section. The expense of such election shall be borne by Forsyth County. It shall be
the election superintendent's duty to certify the result thereof to the Secretary of State. The
provisions of this section shall be mandatory upon the election superintendent and are not
intended as directory. If the election superintendent fails or refuses to comply with this
section, any elector of Forsyth County may apply for a writ of mandamus to compel the
election superintendent to perform his or her duties under this section. If the court finds that
the election superintendent has not complied with this section, the court shall fashion
appropriate relief requiring the election superintendent to call and conduct such election on
the date required by this section or on the next date authorized for special elections provided
for in Code Section 21-2-540 of the O.C.G.A.
SECTION 3.
Except as otherwise provided in Section 2 of this Act, this Act shall become effective upon
its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.