--- title: Ga. Const. Art. III, Sec. II, Para. II. Apportionment of General Assembly. collection: code id: ga-const:art-iii-sec-ii-para-ii cite_as: Ga. Const. Art. III, Sec. II, Para. II canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-iii-sec-ii-para-ii md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-iii-sec-ii-para-ii.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-iii-sec-ii-para-ii/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/2ga-const-(v2)-2016-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=f5de823e_0#page=809 date: 2016 status: active corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68 license: CC0-1.0 publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/index.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-iii-sec-ii-para-i.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/constitution/ga/art-iii-sec-ii-para-iii.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md version: the only printed version in_force: true current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly heading_path: CONSTITUTION OF THE / LEGISLATIVE BRANCH / COMPOSITION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY --- # Ga. Const. Art. III, Sec. II, Para. II. Apportionment of General Assembly. A constitution provision shown as in force is in force as printed in the volume. A court decision can make a printed provision unenforceable without changing the volume, and the volume does not record that. The General Assembly shall apportion the Senate and House districts. Such districts shall be composed of contiguous territory. The apportionment of the Senate and of the House of Representatives shall be changed by the General Assembly as necessary after each United States decennial census. ## Cross References Membership and apportionment of General Assembly generally, § 28-1-1. Apportionment of House of Representatives, § 28-2-1. Apportionment of Senate, § 28-2-2. ## 1976 Constitution. Art. III, Sec. II, Para. I; Art. III, Sec. III, Para. I. ## Separation of Powers. Because Act 444, 2002 Ga. Laws 149, does not impermissibly encroach on the power of the executive branch to control litigation, but instead is a proper assertion of legislative power to determine reapportionment, it does not violate separation of powers. Perdue v. Baker, 277 Ga. 1, 586 S.E.2d 606 (2003). ## Frequency of Reapportionment. Senate Bill 386, 2006 General Assembly, was enacted pursuant to the Georgia legislature’s exercise of the discretionary authority granted by Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. II, Para. II as: (1) Ga. Const. 1976, Art. III, Sec. II, Para. II and Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. II, Para. II were essentially identical with respect to the frequency of reapportionment; (2) Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. II, Para. II required the legislature to reapportion itself at least once after each census if ‘‘necessary,’’ but the exercise was not limited to a once-in-a-decade occurrence; and (3) the frequency of reapportionment between censuses was a matter of unfettered legislative discretion. Blum v. Schrader, 281 Ga. 238, 637 S.E.2d 396 (2006). ## Am. Jur. 2d. 25 Am. Jur. 2d, Elections, § 11 et seq. ## C.j.s. 81A C.J.S., States, § 121 et seq. ## Alr. Inequality of population or lack of compactness of territory as invalidating apportionment of representatives, 2 ALR 1337. Civil responsibility of member of legislative body for his vote therein, 22 ALR 125. Application of constitutional ‘‘compactness requirement’’ to redistricting, 114 ALR5th 311. State court jurisdiction over congressional redistricting disputes, 114 ALR5th 387.