Laws governing local ballot measures in Georgia

Laws Governing Local Ballot Measures

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Terms

Initiative • Home rule • General law city • Charter city • Petition • Initiative petition circulation periods • Circulator • Paid circulator • Volunteer circulator • Circulator affidavit • Signer • Valid signature • Forged signature • Fraudulent signature • Invalid signature • Electronic petition signature • Legislative alteration • Registered voter

In Georgia, most local governments have an initiative process for local ballot measures. This article sets out the laws governing local ballot measures in Georgia. It explains:

• Which local units of government make the initiative process available to residents.
• How and whether local units of government, including school districts, can refer local ballot measures (such as school bond propositions) to the ballot.
• An overview of laws governing local recall elections.

Types of local government

According to a 2022 study from the U.S. Census Bureau, this state's local governments consist of 152 counties, 537 cities, towns, and villages, and 510 special districts. Six county governments have been consolidated with city governments. Another county consolidated with an unincorporated community rather than a city.

School districts

See also: School bond and tax elections in Georgia

In Georgia, the major provisions covering school bond and tax elections are protected by the Georgia Constitution. Georgia has a 20 mill levy limit protected by the state constitution. School districts can only have a referendum in order to exceed the levy limit or eliminate the levy itself. Also, Georgia funds capital outlays differently than other states using a county sales tax. The voters in a respective county can vote to approve an additional sales and use tax of one percent to fund school district capital outlays. Georgia allows capital outlays to be used for capital improvements to facilities and for retirement of all debts. A county can only use the sales tax for five years after the date it is first implemented.

Local recall rules

Georgia law provides for the recall of all elected officials. The Constitution of the State of Georgia authorizes the General Assembly to "provide by general law for the recall of public officials who hold elective office." This provision is found in Article II, Section II, Paragraph IV.

For additional detail, see: Laws governing recall in Georgia

Initiative process availability

Ballot Law Portal

Laws Governing Ballot Measures

A guide to local ballot initiatives

In Georgia, local governments comprise counties, cities, and city-county consolidations. Counties are organized according to the state constitution, general law, and applicable local laws (laws passed by the general assembly concerning a specific county). Cities and city-county consolidations are governed by local charters approved by the General Assembly then ratified by a vote of the people.

Counties

Residents of all counties may initiate amendments to (or veto referendums against) local ordinances, resolutions, and regulations. They may also amend or repeal the local laws governing the county at the state level.

Cities

Residents of all non-consolidated cities may initiate amendments to (or veto referendums against) local ordinances, resolutions, and regulations. They may also amend their local charter.

City-county consolidations

In Georgia, cities and counties may consolidate their governments to streamline services or eliminate redundancies. Seven pairs of cities and counties have formed consolidated city-county governments. All seven pairs are organized under local charters approved by the General Assembly and ratified by residents. The Georgia Code explicitly exempts consolidated governments formed prior to January 1, 1976, from the initiative process established for cities. The City of Columbus and Muscogee County were consolidated in 1971--the first Georgia consolidation and the only consolidation prior to 1976. The charter of Columbus/Muscogee County does provide for charter amendment and ordinance initiatives, but establishes an initiative process distinct from the city process found in the Georgia Code.

The applicability of state's county and city initiative and referendum provisions to consolidated governments in general is unclear. By all appearances, the issue has not yet faced judicial review. Augusta-Richmond County and Columbus-Muscogee County provide for local initiative for ordinances and charter or local act amendment. Athens-Clarke County, Cusseta-Chattahoochee County, and Georgetown-Quitman County seem to exclude it. The status of initiative in unclear in both Statenville-Echols County and Preston-Webster County.

Initiative process features

Local I&R Laws in the 50 States

Source: Local Ballot Initiatives: How citizens change laws with clipboards, conversations, and campaigns

Counties

County Initiative Process   Petition form: The petition must include the exact language of the proposal. Georgia Constitution, Article IX, Section II, Paragraph I (b)(2) Signature requirements: For counties with less than 5,000 residents, signatures from 25% of registered electors are required. For counties with between 5,000 and 50,000 residents, signatures from 20% of registered electors are required. For counties with greater than 50,000 residents, signatures from 10% of registered electors are required. Georgia Constitution, Article IX, Section II, Paragraph I (b)(2) Circulation period: No limit found. Circulator restrictions: No restrictions found. Notary requirement: No requirement found. Submitting signatures: In counties, petitions are filed with the judge of the probate court. Georgia Constitution, Article IX, Section II, Paragraph I (b)(2) Election procedure: In counties, the probate judge must call a special election between 10 and 60 days after filing. The election must be held between 60 and 90 days after filing. The judge must cause a notice of the election to be placed in the official county organ for three consecutive weeks prior to the election. Georgia Constitution, Article IX, Section II, Paragraph I (b)(2) Election results: The outcome of the election is determined by a simple majority. Georgia Constitution, Article IX, Section II, Paragraph I (b)(2) Legislative alteration: The General Assembly may override local actions by general law--law applying to counties generally. However, the General Assembly is prohibited from repealing or modifying local actions by a special local law except in specified cases (see “Limitations” below). A "local law," as used here, is a state law that applies to specific cities or counties. Georgia Constitution, Article IX, Section II, Paragraph I (b)(2)

County Subject Restrictions   Counties may not pass local laws that conflict with the general law of the state. In addition, counties may not approve local laws, by initiative or otherwise, relating to the following: 1. "Any elective county office, the salaries thereof, or the personnel thereof, except the personnel subject to the jurisdiction of the county governing authority." 2. "The composition, form, procedure for election or appointment, compensation, and expenses and allowances in the nature of compensation of the county governing authority." 3. "Defining any criminal offense or providing for criminal punishment." 4. "Adopting any form of taxation beyond that authorized by law or by [the state] Constitution." 5. "Extending the power of regulation over any business activity regulated by the Georgia Public Service Commission beyond that authorized by local or general law or by [the state] Constitution." 6. "The exercise of the power of eminent domain." 7. "Any court or the personnel thereof." 8. "Any public school system." 9. "The private or civil law governing private or civil relationships, except as is incident to the exercise of an independent governmental power." Georgia Constitution, Article IX, Section II, Paragraph I (c) & (d)

Cities

City Initiative Process   Petition form: The petition must include the exact language of the proposal. Petition forms must be approved by the clerk of the municipal governing authority. Also, blank copies of the petition (for circulation) must be obtained from the clerk. Georgia Code, § 36-35-3 (b)(2)(A) & (C) Signature requirements: For cities with less than 5,000 residents, signatures from 25% of registered electors are required. For cities with between 5,000 and 100,000 residents, signatures from 20% of registered electors are required. For cities with more than 100,000 residents, signatures from 15% of registered electors are required. Georgia Code, § 36-35-3 (b)(2)(A) Circulation period: Sponsors have 60 days to circulate petitions. Georgia Code, § 36-35-3 (b)(2)(C) Circulator restrictions: They must be a resident of the municipality. Circulators must sign a statement swearing that they are a local resident and swearing that the signatures were gathered inside the boundaries of the municipality. Georgia Code, § 36-35-3 (b)(2)(C) Notary requirement: No requirement found. Georgia Code, § 36-35-3 (b)(2)(C) Submitting signatures: In cities, petitions are filed with the "governing authority" (may differ from city to city). Georgia Code, § 36-35-3 (b)(2)(A) Election procedure: In cities, the governing authority must call a special election within one week of certification. (Up to fifty days are allowed for the certification process.) There are a limited set of days on which special elections may be scheduled. Georgia Code, § 36-35-3 (b)(2)(A) & § 21-2-540 Election results: A simple majority determines the outcome of the election. Georgia Code, § 36-35-3 (b)(2)(A) Legislative alteration: The state may override local actions by general law--law applying to cities or counties generally. The General Assembly is prohibited from repealing or modifying local actions by a special local law except in specified cases (see “Limitations” below). A "local law," as used here, is a state law that applies to specific cities or counties. Georgia Code, § 36-35-3 (a)

City Subject Restrictions   Municipalities may not pass local laws that conflict with the general law of the state. In addition, cities may not approve local laws, by initiative or otherwise, relating to the following: 1. "The composition and form of the municipal governing authority, the procedure for election or appointment of the members thereof, and the continuance in office and limitation thereon for such members, except as authorized in Chapter 2 of Title 21 or as provided in Code Section 36-35-4.1;" 2. "(A) Action defining any offense, which so defined, is also an offense under the criminal laws of Georgia; (B) Action providing for confinement in excess of six months; and (C) Action providing for fines and forfeitures in excess of $1,000.00;" 3. "Adopting any form of taxation beyond that authorized by law or by the Constitution;" 4. "The exercise of the power of eminent domain;" 5. "Expanding the power of regulation over any business activity regulated by the Public Service Commission beyond that authorized by charter or general law or by the Constitution;" 6. "The jurisdiction of any court;" 7. "Changing charter provisions relating to the establishment and operations of an independent school system." 8. "The private or civil law governing private or civil relationships, except as is incident to the exercise of an independent governmental power." Georgia Code, § 36-35-6

Authority

Constitution

The Georgia Constitution establishes the local initiative process for counties.

See law: Georgia Constitution, Article IX, Section II, Paragraph I (b)

Statutes

The Georgia Code establishes the local initiative process for cities.

See law: Georgia Code, § 36-35-3 (a)

Initiative process in the top 10 most populated cities

Out of the top ten most populated cities in Georgia, Augusta and Columbus are the only two that have individual initiative and referendum processes in their charters.

Individual city provisions   Atlanta Population as of the July, 2011 census update: 432,427. Atlanta is a charter city. Initiative is available for ordinances and charter amendments under the state mandated process outlined above. Augusta Population as of the July, 2011 census update: 196,494. Augusta is a chartered consolidated city-county. There is an additional initiative and referendum process in the Augusta charter, in which the signature requirement is equal to 10% of the registered electors of the last general election. The Augusta charter lists subject restrictions and establishes that any petition must not conflict with state statutes in Section 1-1. The charter requires the full text of the measure in the petition layout and information. The petition must be filed with the judge of the probate court. The probate judge must call a special election between 10 and 60 days after the filing of the Petition. The election must be held between 60 and 90 days after filing. (Augusta-Richmond Charter, Sec. 1.1) See link to Augusta Charter in External Links Columbus Population as of the July, 2011 census update: 194,107. Columbus is a chartered consolidated city-county. Columbus has an additional process in its charter which involves two rounds. The first round requires signatures from 5% of the registered voters and must be filed 60 days from the first signature of the petition. The petition must be uniform in character, contain the proposed ordinance in full, and contain the names and addresses of at least 5 qualified voters who are serving as the committee of the petitioners. It must also contain a circulator affidavit as well as meeting other requirements as found in Columbus City Charter Section 6.4. After the filing of a successful first round petition, the City Council has 30 days to adopt the petitioned ordinance. If the Council does not adopt the ordinance, the petitioners must file a demand with the City Clerk within 5 days. The petitioners must gather signatures of 25% of registered electors in 20 days. If this second petition is successful the ordinance will go to an election. (Columbus City Charter Section 6.4) See link to Columbus Charter in External Links Savannah Population as of the July, 2011 census update: 139,491. Savannah is a charter city. Initiative is available for ordinances and charter amendments under the state mandated process outlined above. Athens Population as of the July, 2011 census update: 116,084. Athens is a chartered consolidated city-county. The Athens consolidated charter seems to exclude charter amendment by initiative, while there is no mention of ordinance initiative. As a consolidated city-county, the applicability of the state initiative mandates is unclear. Sandy Springs Population as of the July, 2011 census update: 96,856. Sandy Springs is a charter city. Initiative is available for ordinances and charter amendments under the state mandated process outlined above. Macon Population as of the July, 2011 census update: 91,856. Macon is a charter city. Initiative is available for ordinances and charter amendments under the state mandated process outlined above. Roswell Population as of the July, 2011 census update: 91,168. Roswell is a charter city. Initiative is available for ordinances and charter amendments under the state mandated process outlined above. Johns Creek Population as of the July, 2011 census update: 79,192. Johns Creek is a charter city. Initiative is available for ordinances and charter amendments under the state mandated process outlined above. Albany Population as of the July, 2011 census update: 77,683. Albany is a charter city. Initiative is available for ordinances and charter amendments under the state mandated process outlined above.

See also

• Laws governing ballot measures
• Laws governing local ballot measures
• Local ballot measures, Georgia
• Counties in Georgia

External links

• Georgia Municipal Association
• Carl Vinson Institute of Government
• New Georgia Encyclopedia, "Georgia's City Governments"
• New Georgia Encyclopedia, "Georgia's County Governments"
• Augusta City Charter
• Columbus City Charter