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Call Now: 904-383-7448(a) The following amendments to the Constitutions of 1877, 1945, and 1976 shall continue in force and effect as part of this Constitution until July 1, 1987, at which time said amendments shall be repealed and shall be deleted as a part of this Constitution unless any such amendment shall be specifically continued in force and effect without amendment either by a local law enacted prior to July 1, 1987, with or without a referendum as provided by law, or by an ordinance or resolution duly adopted prior to July 1, 1987, by the local governing authority in the manner provided for the adoption of home rule amendments to its charter or local Act: (1) amendments to the Constitution of 1877 and the Constitution of 1945 which were continued in force and effect as a part of the Constitution of 1976 pursuant to the provisions of Article XIII, Section I, Paragraph II of the Constitution of 1976 which are in force and effect on the effective date of this Constitution; (2) amendments to the Constitution of 1976 which were ratified as general amendments but which by their terms applied principally to a particular political subdivision or subdivisions which are in force and effect on the effective date of this Constitution; (3) amendments to the Constitution of 1976 which were ratified not as general amendments which are in force and effect on the effective date of this Constitution; and (4) amendments to the Constitution of 1976 of the type provided for in the immediately preceding two subparagraphs (2) and (3) of this Paragraph which were ratified at the same time this Constitution was ratified.
(b) Any amendment which is continued in force and effect after July 1, 1987, pursuant to the provisions of subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall be continued in force and effect as a part of this Constitution, except that such amendment may thereafter be repealed but may not be amended. The repeal of any such amendment shall be accomplished by local Act of the General Assembly, the effectiveness of which shall be conditioned on its approval by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon in each of the particular political subdivisions affected by the amendment.
(c) All laws enacted pursuant to those amendments to the Constitution which are not continued in force and effect pursuant to subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall be repealed on July 1, 1987. All laws validly enacted on, before, or after July 1, 1987, and pursuant to the specific authorization of an amendment continued in force and effect pursuant to the provisions of subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall be legal, valid, and constitutional under this Constitution. Nothing in this subparagraph (c) shall be construed to revive any law not in force and effect on June 30, 1987.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraphs (a) and (b), the following amendments to the Constitutions of 1877 and 1945 shall be continued in force as a part of this Constitution: amendments to the Constitution of 1877 and the Constitution of 1945 which created or authorized the creation of metropolitan rapid transit authorities, port authorities, and industrial areas and which were continued in force as a part of the Constitution of 1976 pursuant to the provisions of Article XIII, Section I, Paragraph II of the Constitution of 1976 and which are in force on the effective date of this Constitution.
(e) Any person owning property in an industrial area described in subparagraph (d) of this Paragraph may voluntarily remove the property from the industrial area by filing a certificate to that effect with the clerk of the superior court for the county in which the property is located. Once the certificate is filed, the property described in the certificate, together with all public streets and public rights of way within the property, abutting the property, or connecting the property to property outside the industrial area, shall no longer be in the industrial area and shall upon the filing of the certificate be annexed to the city which provides water service to the property, or if no city provides water service shall be annexed to the city providing fire service as provided under the constitutional amendments that created such industrial areas described in subparagraph (d) of this Paragraph. The filing of a certificate shall be irrevocable and shall bind the owners, their heirs, and their assigns. The term "owner" includes anyone with a legal or equitable ownership in property but does not include a beneficiary of any trust or a partner in any partnership owning an interest in the property or anyone owning an easement right in the property.
(Ga. Const. 1983, Art. 11, § 1, Para. 4; Ga. L. 1991, p. 2031, § 1/HR 16; Ga. L. 1992, p. 3335, § 1/HR 997; Ga. L. 1996, p. 1667, § 1/SR 228; Ga. L. 2010, p. 1259, § 1/HR 136.)
- Art. IX, Sec. VIII, Para. I; Art. XIII, Sec. I, Para. II.
- The constitutional amendment (Ga. L. 1988, p. 2112, § 1) which would have added a subparagraph allowing owners of real property located in an industrial area on an island by virtue of this Paragraph to irrevocably remove such property and adjacent public rights of way from the industrial area was defeated at the general election on November 8, 1988.
The constitutional amendment (Ga. L. 1990, p. 2429, § 1) which would have authorized the General Assembly to provide that a political subdivision whose ad valorem taxing powers are restricted by constitutional amendment may impose a local sales and use tax without a corresponding limitation of its ad valorem taxing powers was defeated at the general election on November 6, 1990.
The constitutional amendment (Ga. L. 1991, p. 2031, § 1) as amended by (Ga. L. 1992, p. 3335, § 1) which revised Paragraph IV to provide that the General Assembly may by local Act repeal certain constitutional amendments, which local Acts must be approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon in the particular political subdivision(s) affected by the amendment was approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting at the general election held on November 3, 1992.
The constitutional amendment (Ga. L. 1996, p. 1667, § 1) which added subparagraph (e) was approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting at the general election held on November 5, 1996.
The constitutional amendment (Ga. L. 2010, p. 1259, § 1), which, in subparagraph (e), in the first sentence, inserted "of this Paragraph" near the middle, and deleted ", but only if the property is located on an island" from the end; in the second sentence, substituted ", shall no longer be in the industrial area and shall upon the filing of the certificate be annexed to the city which provides water service to the property, or if no city provides water service shall be annexed to the city providing fire service as provided under the constitutional amendments that created such industrial areas described in subparagraph (d) of this Paragraph" for "will no longer be in the industrial area and may be annexed by an adjacent city"; and, in the third sentence, substituted "shall" for "will" twice, was ratified at the general election held on November 2, 2010.
- For note, "Lapse or Continuation of Local Constitutional Amendments Under the Constitution of 1983," see 21 Ga. St. B.J. 78 (1984).
- A local amendment to Art. VII, Sec. IV, Para. II of the 1945 Georgia Constitution, authorizing a county to levy a tax for water and sewerage purposes, was carried forward pursuant to subsection (a) of Ga. Const. 1983, Art. XI, Sec. I, Para. IV. Copeland v. State, 268 Ga. 375, 490 S.E.2d 68 (1997).
- Amendment to the Constitution of 1877, Ga. L. 1945, p. 101, which was ratified and proclaimed on the same dates as was the Constitution of 1945, never became operative either as an amendment to the Constitution of 1877 or as an amendment to the Constitution of 1945. Fulton County v. Lockhart, 202 Ga. 878, 45 S.E.2d 220 (1947).
- A 1952 amendment to the 1945 constitution, allowing the establishment of a joint board of tax assessors in a population category applying only to Fulton County and the City of Atlanta, was carried forward in the present constitution, and neither the amendment nor a 1952 implementing statute was unconstitutional. However, subsequent amendments which attempted to establish by local act any appeal system other than that specified in the 1952 amendment, and other amendments that attempted to change the population category affected by the 1952 amendment, were unconstitutional and void. Lomax v. Lee, 261 Ga. 575, 408 S.E.2d 788 (1991).
- A local amendment to Art. VII, Sec. IV, Para. IV of the 1945 Georgia Constitution, authorizing a county to levy a tax for water and sewerage purposes, was not repealed by ratification of a later amendment giving counties direct authority to create special taxing districts for water and sewerage services and to tax for those services only within the special district. Copeland v. State, 268 Ga. 375, 490 S.E.2d 68 (1997).
- The fact that the City Court of Atlanta remained a city court under Ga. L. 1996, p. 627 refuted the defendant's contention that it was outside the constitutional confines of the Georgia Constitution and the 1967 and 1986 constitutional amendments under which the City Court existed prior to 1996. Wickham v. State, 273 Ga. 563, 544 S.E.2d 439 (2001).
Cited in Tucker v. Board of Comm'rs, 255 Ga. 472, 339 S.E.2d 714 (1986); Fulton County v. City of Atlanta, 299 Ga. 676, 791 S.E.2d 821 (2016).
- There is no longer any authority for the future passage of local constitutional amendments. 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U90-5.
- The constitutional amendments creating the Clarke County School District and Board of Education will be automatically repealed unless they are reenacted by local Act prior to July 1, 1987. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U84-4.
Reenactment of constitutional amendments creating the Clarke County School District and Board of Education can be accomplished by an Act which references the constitutional amendments so long as those references are sufficient to inform interested parties as to the subject matter of the Act. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U84-4.
Any change in constitutional amendments creating the Clarke County School District and Board of Education would prevent their reenactment by local law and would require approval by the Justice Department. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U84-4.