---
title: SR 560. Congress; reaffirming the 35th parallel as Georgia's northern border; urge
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sr560
cite_as: SR 560, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr560
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr560.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr560/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72168
date: 2026-01-13
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/sr559.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr561.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr560.md?full=1
bill_number: SR 560
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: resolution
status_date: 2026-01-12
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
  - Colton Moore
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SR560/2025
upstream_id: 2072029
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - state boundary dispute
  - Georgia Tennessee border
  - 35th parallel
  - interstate relations
  - Department of the Interior
---

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

## Text

Senate Resolution 560
By: Senator Moore of the 53rd
A RESOLUTION
Reaffirming the 35th parallel as Georgia's northern border and any rights therein, and urging
Congress, the federal Department of the Interior, and all other relevant federal, state, and
local authorities to recognize and take all steps reasonably necessary to correct the boundary
line currently dividing Georgia from Tennessee and North Carolina; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS, the admission of Tennessee to the Union in 1796 by an act of Congress,
approved June 1, 1796, 1 Stat. 491, and North Carolina's cession of its western lands to the
United States in 1790 by an act of Congress, approved April 2, 1790, 1 Stat. 106, stipulated
the 35th parallel as the boundary between Georgia and what became Tennessee and North
Carolina; and
WHEREAS, in Georgia v. South Carolina, 259 U.S. 572 (1922), the United States Supreme
Court recognized that the 35th parallel served as the historical and legal boundary of
Georgia; and
WHEREAS, the Official Code of Georgia Annotated acknowledges Georgia's boundary lines
in Code Section 50-2-1, which is consistent with state constitutions, federal statutes, and case
law that reference the 35th parallel as the northern boundary of Georgia; and
WHEREAS, the impacted area remains under the de facto control of Tennessee and North
Carolina, despite credible and longstanding legal grounds that recognize it as properly
belonging to the State of Georgia, as described in a resolution approved May 14, 2008 (2008
Ga. L., p. 1180) and a resolution introduced during the 2023 regular session of the General
Assembly (H.R. 508); and
WHEREAS, the federal Department of the Interior, through its oversight of federal land and
official state boundaries in conjunction with other federal agencies, possesses the
administrative authority to update or clarify official boundary maps.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body
urge:
(1) All citizens of Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, and all state and federal
authorities to recognize the historical and reaffirmed legal basis of Georgia's claims;
(2) Congress, the federal Department of the Interior, and any other relevant federal
agencies to take all steps reasonably necessary to correct the official boundary maps in
order to redesignate the land situated south of the 35th parallel, but north of the
incorrectly placed state boundary line which currently divides Georgia from Tennessee
and North Carolina, as land occupied by Georgia; and
(3) The State of Georgia, all political subdivisions, and the Georgia Department of
Defense to pursue any additional measures, as may be necessary, to advance this claim
and protect the sovereign integrity of Georgia's boundaries, as originally established and
confirmed by federal statutes and the Supreme Court of the United States.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
to make appropriate copies of this resolution available for distribution to each member of the
Congressional delegation, the federal Department of the Interior, and the public.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary.

A Georgia Senate resolution reasserts that the state's true northern border sits at the 35th parallel and calls on Congress and federal agencies to redraw maps so Georgia gains land now controlled by Tennessee and North Carolina.

### Plain-language summary

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.

### What it does

- 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.

### Who it affects

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.

### Why it matters

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.

### Key provisions

- 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.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2026-01-12)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2026-01-13)
- Sponsors: Colton Moore
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72168

> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr560.md?full=1