SR 560: Congress; reaffirming the 35th parallel as Georgia's northern border; urge

For decades, Georgia has argued that an old surveying error placed its actual border with Tennessee and North Carolina too far south, cutting the state off from land it says belongs to it under the 35th parallel line set by 18th century federal statutes admitting Tennessee to the Union and North Carolina's land cession. This resolution restates that historical and legal claim, citing a 1922 U.S. Supreme Court case and Georgia's own boundary statute (O.C.G.A. § 50-2-1), and notes that earlier Georgia resolutions in 2008 and 2023 made the same argument without resolving the dispute. The resolution does not change any law by itself. Instead it urges Congress, the federal Department of the Interior, and other federal and state authorities to correct official boundary maps to recognize the disputed strip of land as part of Georgia. It also asks the State of Georgia, local governments, and the Georgia Department of Defense to pursue further steps to press the claim, and directs the Secretary of the Senate to send copies to Georgia's congressional delegation and the Department of the Interior.

• Formally restates Georgia's position that the 35th parallel, not the current surveyed line, is the legal northern border with Tennessee and North Carolina.
• Urges Congress and the federal Department of the Interior to redraw official boundary maps to place the disputed land within Georgia.
• Calls on Georgia state and local governments and the Georgia Department of Defense to take further action to advance the boundary claim.
• Directs the Secretary of the Senate to distribute copies of the resolution to Georgia's congressional delegation, the Department of the Interior, and the public.
• Does not itself alter any state law, appropriate funds, or change the boundary; it is a statement of position and request for federal action.

Residents and local governments in the disputed border area of Tennessee and North Carolina, Georgia's congressional delegation, the federal Department of the Interior, and Georgia state agencies including the Department of Defense, which the resolution asks to help pursue the boundary claim.

If federal authorities ever acted on this request, land and residents currently under Tennessee or North Carolina jurisdiction could be redesignated as part of Georgia, affecting which state's laws, taxes, and services apply there. As a resolution rather than a law, it carries no direct legal force on its own.

• Cites 1796 and 1790 federal statutes admitting Tennessee and ceding North Carolina's western lands as setting the 35th parallel as Georgia's boundary.
• References Georgia v. South Carolina, 259 U.S. 572 (1922), and Georgia's boundary statute (O.C.G.A. § 50-2-1) as legal support for the claim.
• Notes prior Georgia resolutions from 2008 and 2023 (H.R. 508) that made the same boundary argument.
• Resolves that the Senate urges all citizens and authorities in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina to recognize Georgia's claimed boundary.
• Resolves that Congress and the Department of the Interior take steps to correct official maps to redesignate the disputed land as Georgia's.
• Resolves that the State of Georgia, its political subdivisions, and the Georgia Department of Defense pursue further measures to protect the claimed boundary.
• Directs the Secretary of the Senate to send copies of the resolution to the congressional delegation, the Department of the Interior, and the public.

1. 2026-01-13Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-01-12Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Colton Moore (R, SD-053)Primary sponsor

• state boundary dispute
• Georgia Tennessee border
• 35th parallel
• interstate relations
• Department of the Interior