HB1550: HB1550 Byron, City of; change corporate limits

This bill amends Byron's 1941 city charter to redraw its corporate limits, adding a new area described by a specific boundary running along the western and eastern rights of way of Housers Mill Road and the Georgia Highway 247 connector, near the 5th Land District. The change effectively annexes this land into the city. The bill's effective date is conditional: it takes effect June 1, 2026 only if a companion bill amending Fort Valley's charter to remove (deannex) the same right of way from that city is also passed and signed (or becomes law without the Governor's signature) during the 2026 session. If that Fort Valley deannexation does not happen, this bill never takes effect and is automatically repealed on June 1, 2026.

• Adds a new paragraph to Section 2.1 of Byron's city charter describing a specific new boundary line along Housers Mill Road and the Georgia Highway 247 connector.
• Expands the City of Byron's corporate limits to include the land inside that newly described boundary.
• Makes the change effective only if a companion bill deannexing the same land from the City of Fort Valley is also enacted in 2026.
• Automatically repeals itself on June 1, 2026 if the Fort Valley deannexation bill is not enacted and approved.

Residents and property owners along Housers Mill Road and the Georgia Highway 247 connector whose land would move from Fort Valley into Byron, along with both city governments, which would need to coordinate the boundary change through separate charter amendments.

If both this bill and the companion Fort Valley bill pass, a specific stretch of land would shift from Fort Valley's jurisdiction to Byron's, changing which city provides services, collects property taxes, and has zoning authority over that area starting June 1, 2026.

• Section 1 amends Section 2.1 of Byron's 1941 charter (Ga. L. 1941, p. 1210, as amended) by adding a new paragraph (6) that legally describes the added boundary.
• The described boundary runs along Housers Mill Road's western and eastern rights of way and the Georgia Highway 247 connector, tied to Land Lot 15 of the 5th Land District.
• Section 2 sets a contingent effective date of June 1, 2026, conditioned on a separate 2026 bill deannexing the same land from the City of Fort Valley.
• Section 2 provides that if the Fort Valley deannexation bill is not enacted and approved, this Act automatically repeals on June 1, 2026 and never takes effect.
• Section 3 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2026-05-12Effective Date 2026-06-01
2. 2026-05-12Act 645
3. 2026-05-12House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-07House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-03-31Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2026-03-31Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
7. 2026-03-25Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2026-03-23House Passed/Adopted (House)

• Robert Dickey (R, HD-134)Primary sponsor
• Bethany Ballard (R, HD-147)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 23, 2026

   158 yea, 0 nay (12 not voting, 6 absent)

   Local Calendar : House Vote #739

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   45 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 4 absent)

   Local Consent Calendar: Senate Vote #873

• city annexation
• municipal boundaries
• Byron Georgia
• local government
• city charters