Georgia's County Governments

In Georgia, unlike most states with large cities, the county is still the center of political and cultural life for a majority of the state's citizens. Counties carry out locally a variety of state programs and policies, including collecting taxes, overseeing elections, conducting courts of law, filing official records, maintaining roads, and providing for the welfare of citizens.

The first state constitution in 1777 created eight counties: Liberty, Wilkes, Richmond, Burke, Effingham, Chatham, Glynn, and Camden. These were carved out of the coastal areas that were settled when Georgia was a British colony. Since then, each revision of the state constitution has increased the number of counties, until the total reached 159, the limit specified in the Constitution of 1983.

Only Texas, which is considerably larger in area, has more counties than Georgia has. According to anecdotal history, Georgia established enough counties so that a farmer traveling by mule-drawn buggy could go to the county seat, take care of business, and return to his farm in the same day.

Politically, it served Georgians, the majority of whom lived on farms in rural areas, to have smaller counties. Each county has at least one representative in the General Assembly, the state's governing body. Moreover, many towns wanted to be a county seat, the location of the courthouse and jail and the center of local political activities, social gatherings, and trade. Having a large number of counties gave Georgians more representation in state government and more business in towns.

Counties were created by a rural society that looked to government to keep the records straight and the justice swift. To help counties administer state programs and conduct state courts, the state constitution originally created four elected county officers: the sheriff, the tax commissioner, the clerk of the superior court, and the judge of the probate court. In 1868 the state began creating the position of county commissioner to administer the general operations of the county. Today every county has a commissioner; many have a Board of Commissioners (BOC). As part of general county operations, the BOC must finance county programs and pay the salaries of constitutional officers.

The sheriff enforces the law, maintains peace in the county, and serves as the jailor. In some counties the BOC has established a county police department. The county police may supplement the law enforcement ability of the sheriff, but they do not replace the sheriff.

The functions of the tax commissioner resemble those of an accountant for the county. He or she receives all tax returns, maintains the county's tax records, and collects and pays tax funds to the state and local governments. To assist the tax commissioner, the BOC in some counties has established a Tax Assessor's Board, an Equalization Board, and/or a Board of Appraisers. The purpose of these appointed, not elected, boards is to ensure that everyone pays his or her fair share of taxes.

The clerk of the superior court is the primary record keeper for the county. The clerk maintains all the court records and supervises the registration of property transactions. Each BOC also has its own county clerk, who is responsible for keeping the records for the board.

The judge of the probate court has a broad range of powers, mostly unrelated to criminal matters. He or she oversees matters pertaining to property deeds, marriage licenses, guardianships, and wills; supervises elections; and administers public oaths of office. To assist the judge of the probate court, the state has created a local board of elections in almost every county.

Beyond the powers assigned to the constitutional officers, the BOC is the county governing authority. It has the power to adopt ordinances, resolutions, or regulations relating to county property, county affairs, and the operation of local government. Larger, more urban counties distribute governmental responsibilities among many departments, whereas smaller, more rural counties often employ only a few officials, each of whom serves several functions. For example, Clayton County (population 236,517) has a police chief, a fire chief, a warden, a sheriff, an emergency management agency director, and a public safety director to ensure the safety of its citizens. In Clay County (population 3,357), on the other hand, the sheriff also acts as the emergency management agency director.

Source:  The New Georgia Encyclopedia
The New Georgia Encyclopedia