HB 521 Georgia House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Local government; deannexation of certain properties; revise procedures

Summary
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 8 of Chapter 36 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to municipal deannexation, so as to revise procedures related to the deannexation of certain properties; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 19, 2025 Last action Mar 31, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

LC 47 3477S/hs LC 47 3531S/rcs · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended to change the committee responsible for the substitute from Governmental Affairs to Rules, and the act's purpose was updated to require county approval for certain annexations. The core reporting requirements for annexations and deannexations remain largely the same, but the text was reorganized to clarify that digital shapefiles are mandatory unless a regional commission provides assistance.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly state that certain annexations are contingent upon the approval of the county where the property is located.
ELIGIBILITY

Added a requirement that certain annexations must be approved by the county in which the property is located.

REQUIREMENT

Updated the bill title to reflect the new county approval contingency and clarified the list of required report contents.

TECHNICAL

Added a new provision stating that if a municipality cannot create a required digital shapefile, a regional commission must assist them in doing so.

Reorganized the text to ensure consistent formatting and numbering between the original and substitute versions.

Floor votes · House Mar 6, 2025

How they voted

1458
Passed · 6 other
Total votes 159
Mar 6, 2025
D Democratic67
57 Yea 8 Nay 2
85% Yea
R Republican92
88 Yea 4
95% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
20
Key actions
6
Committee
9
Mar 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
upper
Mar 16, 2026
Committee
Senate Recommitted
upper
Feb 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Senate Recommitted
upper
Feb 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate Committee Favorably Reported
upper
Jan 12, 2026
Committee
Senate Recommitted
upper
Mar 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate Committee Favorably Reported
upper
Mar 10, 2025
Committee
Senate Read and Referred
upper
Mar 6, 2025
Lower · Passed
House Passed/Adopted By Substitute
lower
Feb 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
lower
Feb 19, 2025
Introduced
House Hopper
lower
6 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors