Georgia Local Government Law Blog

Many local government attorneys assemble each year at the Institute for City and County Attorneys, in Athens. I provided an update on local government's best practices in public works, infrastructure, construction, and contracts. Accompanying the update, I prepared a guidance

A city resident challenged the state law creating the City of Mulberry in Gwinnett County. Holding that the resident lacked standing to challenge the state law -- namely, a particularized injury -- the Court of Appeals dismissed the challenge. Since

City of Atlanta prevailed at the Court of Appeals against a plaintiff's claim based on alleged inadequate signalized pedestrian crossings. Ryles v. City of Atlanta, A25A0485, 2025 WL 1702194 (Ga. Ct. App. June 18, 2025) Ryles acknowledges this authority but

Block., Inc., the owner of Square and CashApp, filed an action against the City of Atlanta et al. for refund of occupational taxes, which Block contends were collected in error. The Court of Appeals held that the City miscalculated the

Department of Public Safety's drug-interdiction operation was not actionable as an inverse condemnation but was rather an exercise of the State's police power. Even though the operation's low-flying aircraft accidentally damaged a hemp farm that, according to the petitioners, complied

The Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling by the Georgia Tax Tribunal that Uber must pay sales tax on its drivers' rides. The Court applied the Taxicab Regulation to Uber because it is a "headquarters operator." And the Court ruled

In a closely monitored case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that that Universal Service Fund does not violate the nondelegation doctrine. In F.C.C. et al. v. Consumers Research et al., the petitioners requested the Court to rule that the USF

In several prior posts, I've covered Georgia's multi-year contracting statutes. These statutes authorize local governments to enter into multi-year contracts and leases without running afoul of other statutory restrictions, as long as certain conditions are satisfied. A recent case addressed

State and local public works projects are subject to statutory requirements that affect advertising, bidding, preference, sourcing, contracting, and other aspects. (Read more about public works here.) That is, unless an exception applies. One such exception -- a dollar threshold

The Georgia General Assembly passed S.B. 298, which authorizes direct appeals of rulings about sovereign immunity and other immunities. The bill passed both houses and has been sent to the Governor for signature. The appeal must be exercised within 30

Petitioners sought a declaration that the Act incorporating the City of Mableton was unconstitutional because it violated the Single Subject Rule of the Georgia Constitution. They argue the City's incorporation was combined in a bill that creates one or more

Senate Resolution 424 establishes the Senate Study Committee on Franchise Fees to examine and make recommendations regarding the imposition and distribution of franchise fees by electric utilities, particularly in unincorporated areas of Georgia. The resolution states: [M]unicipalities lease their rights

An unsuccessful candidate for city commissioner filed a petition to contest the election. He alleged that the city used an outdated district map, which caused votes to be cast in the wrong district. The Superior Court granted the petition and

Petitioners filed a petition for writ of quo warranto against Georgia's Lieutenant Governor. They allege Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (i.e., the Insurrection Clause) bars his service because he executed certain documents in connection with

In a tax appeal, a County Board of Tax Assessors moved for summary judgment, which the trial court denied. On an interlocutory appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of summary judgment because there remained a question of fact

Petitioner filed actions under the Georgia Open and Public Meetings Act. As one basis for her claims, petitioner argued that the Act required the City's minutes were deficient because they failed to list persons present during executive sessions. The Court

Petitioner filed an action seeking a writ of quo warranto to remove two County Board of Education members, alleging their service violated the State's anti-nepotism statute. Under the statute, as applied by the Georgia Department of Education's regulations, no person

A telecom provider has sued a gas utility for allegedly damaging its fiber-optic cable. Zayo Group contends Atlanta Gas Light damaged the line while excavating with mechanized equipment. As a result, Zayo Group alleges it suffered disturbance to its rights

Before the Georgia General Assembly is Senate Bill 13, which would authorize the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) to finance and provide technical assistance to local governments for two new project types -- (i) natural gas facilities and (ii) conversion

Montgomery Cnty. v. Rountree, A23A1460, 2025 WL 652275 (Ga. Ct. App. Feb. 28, 2025) OCGA § 36-92-2 provides for a limited waiver of local government entities’ (including counties’) sovereign immunity for losses arising out of claims for the negligent use

In an annexation dispute, the City passed an annexation ordinance before the County's objection to the annexation was resolved in the statutory arbitration. During the arbitration process, one of the arbitrators resigned and a replacement arbitrator was never appointed. Thus,

A media company -- Appen Media, which publishes the local newspaper Sandy Springs Crier -- submitted an open records request for certain police incident reports for cases still under investigation. The City produced certain reports but did not include narrative

Plaintiff filed suit under Paragraph V of the Georgia Constitution, which waives sovereign immunity for declaratory relief against the State and local governments on certain limited grounds. Sovereign immunity is hereby waived for actions in the superior court seeking declaratory

After discovering a court employee had embezzled funds, Glynn County filed suit against public officials bonds provided by Old Republic Surety Company. While initially the surety relied on the six-year statute of limitations for written contracts, it later withdrew the