HR1051: HR1051 Property; granting of non-exclusive easements of certain state owned property; authorize

Georgia owns land used for prisons, technical colleges, wildlife management areas, and other state facilities. Utility companies, local governments, and transportation agencies sometimes need to run power lines, gas lines, roads, or driveways across that land. Because the state owns the property, the General Assembly must approve any easement (a legal right to use part of someone else's land for a specific purpose) before it can be granted. This resolution approves 25 separate easements across Baldwin, Bartow, Bulloch, Camden, Catoosa, Chatham, Chattooga, Clayton, Colquitt, DeKalb, Emanuel, Glynn, Habersham, Hall, Laurens, Long, McDuffie, Morgan, Muscogee, Oconee, Paulding, Peach, Talbot, Tift, and Walton Counties in Georgia, plus Hamilton County, Tennessee. Recipients include Georgia Power, AT&T, several electric cooperatives, city governments, and the Georgia and Tennessee Departments of Transportation. Each grant specifies the exact acreage, the allowed use, a payment amount to the state, and a three year deadline for the State Properties Commission to complete the grant. The resolution takes effect immediately upon the Governor's signature.

• Authorizes the State Properties Commission to grant 25 non-exclusive easements on state-owned land for utility lines, roads, driveways, and drainage projects.
• Sets a specific payment (ranging from $10.00 nominal fees for public-purpose projects to $83,700.00 for a Georgia Department of Transportation road project) that each grantee must pay the state for its easement.
• Requires each easement grant to expire and become void if not finalized within three years after the resolution takes effect.
• Requires each grantee to remove or relocate its facilities at its own cost if the state later needs the land back for its own use.
• Preserves the state's underlying ownership of each easement area, meaning no title to the land is transferred to any utility, company, or government agency.
• Directs that each completed easement be recorded in the local superior court and a copy sent back to the State Properties Commission.

The bill affects state agencies that manage the properties involved, including the Departments of Corrections, Natural Resources, Agriculture, Education, Economic Development, Driver Services, and Juvenile Justice, plus the Technical College System of Georgia. It also affects the utility companies, electric cooperatives, city governments, and the Georgia and Tennessee transportation departments receiving easements, and residents near facilities like Hays State Prison, Ogeechee Technical College, and the Wormsloe Historic Site.

Without this legislative approval, utility companies and local governments could not legally build or maintain power lines, gas lines, roads, or drainage systems that cross state property, potentially delaying projects like prison expansions, school upgrades, road widenings, and new economic development sites such as the Rivian project area in Morgan and Walton Counties.

• Article I (Sections 1-13) grants Southern Natural Gas Company an easement at Central State Hospital in Baldwin County for a natural gas line expansion, with payment of at least $650.00.
• Article II (Sections 14-26) grants the Georgia Department of Transportation an easement over the Western and Atlantic Railroad in Bartow County for a road project, with payment of $23,700.00.
• Multiple articles grant nominal $10.00 easements for public-purpose utility and drainage projects at technical colleges, state parks, and other facilities, including sites in Bulloch, Chatham, Clayton, Colquitt, DeKalb, Emanuel, Habersham, McDuffie, Muscogee, Oconee, Peach, and Tift Counties.
• Article XII (Sections 144-156) grants HIC Altama, LLC a stormwater drainage easement at the Altama Plantation Wildlife Management Area in Glynn County specifically to resolve a hydrological dispute, requiring measures to protect gopher tortoises.
• Article XVIII (Sections 222-234) grants AT&T Enterprises, LLC an easement across the Rivian Project Site in Morgan and Walton Counties for communication lines.
• Article XXI (Sections 261-273) grants the Georgia Department of Transportation an easement in Paulding County for the SR 61 road widening project, with total payment of $83,700.00.
• Article XXV (Sections 313-325) grants the Tennessee Department of Transportation a 116-acre easement in Hamilton County, Tennessee over the Western and Atlantic Railroad for road improvement and safety projects.
• Section 326 sets the effective date as the moment the Governor signs the resolution or it otherwise becomes law without signature.

1. 2026-05-11Effective Date 2026-05-11
2. 2026-05-11Act 502
3. 2026-05-11House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-03-25House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
6. 2026-03-20Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2026-03-20Senate Third Read (Senate)
8. 2026-03-19Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)Primary sponsor
• Emory Dunahoo (R, HD-031)
• Arlene Beckles (D, HD-096)
• Debbie Buckner (D, HD-137)
• Robert Flournoy (D, HD-074)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 10, 2026

   164 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 6 absent)

   Adopt: House Vote #493

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 20, 2026

   46 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 6 absent)

   Adoption By Substitute: Senate Vote #765

3. PassedHouse voteMarch 25, 2026

   163 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 8 absent)

   Agree To Senate Substitute: House Vote #756

• state property easements
• utility infrastructure
• road construction
• technical colleges
• Georgia state parks