SR560: SR560 Congress; reaffirming the 35th parallel as Georgia's northern border; urge

This resolution revives a long-running dispute over where Georgia's northern border actually sits. It argues that federal statutes from the 1790s and a 1922 U.S. Supreme Court case establish the 35th parallel as Georgia's legal boundary with Tennessee and North Carolina, and that Georgia's own code (O.C.G.A. § 50-2-1) reflects this. The resolution says land south of the 35th parallel but north of the current, supposedly incorrect boundary line is really Georgia's territory, even though Tennessee and North Carolina currently control it. The resolution does not change any law by itself. Instead it urges Congress, the federal Department of the Interior, and other federal, state, and local authorities to correct official boundary maps to reflect Georgia's claim. It also asks the State of Georgia, local governments, and the Georgia Department of Defense to pursue further steps to advance the claim, and directs the Secretary of the Senate to send copies to Georgia's Congressional delegation and the Department of the Interior.

• Formally reaffirms the Georgia General Assembly's position that the 35th parallel, not the current line, is Georgia's legal northern border.
• Urges Congress and the federal Department of the Interior to correct official boundary maps to redesignate the disputed land as belonging to Georgia.
• Calls on the State of Georgia, local governments, and the Georgia Department of Defense to pursue further steps 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 move the border, since only Congress or a federal agency could actually change the official boundary.

Residents and local governments in the disputed strip of land currently controlled by Tennessee and North Carolina, the Georgia Department of Defense, Georgia's Congressional delegation, and the federal Department of the Interior, which oversees official boundary maps.

If federal authorities ever acted on this claim, residents in the disputed area could find themselves subject to Georgia law, taxes, and services instead of Tennessee's or North Carolina's, though the resolution itself only expresses Georgia's position and cannot redraw the border on its own.

• Cites the 1796 and 1790 congressional acts admitting Tennessee and accepting North Carolina's land cession, which the resolution says fixed the 35th parallel as Georgia's border.
• References Georgia v. South Carolina, 259 U.S. 572 (1922), as Supreme Court recognition of the 35th parallel boundary.
• Notes O.C.G.A. § 50-2-1 as Georgia's own statutory description of its boundary lines.
• References a 2008 Georgia resolution (2008 Ga. L., p. 1180) and a 2023 House resolution (H.R. 508) as prior legislative efforts on this claim.
• Resolves that the Senate urges citizens, state and federal authorities, Congress, and the Department of the Interior to recognize and correct the boundary.
• Resolves that Georgia, its political subdivisions, and the Georgia Department of Defense should pursue further measures to advance the claim.
• Directs the Secretary of the Senate to distribute copies of the resolution to Congress, 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
• Georgia-North Carolina border
• 35th parallel
• legislative resolutions