Bartow County; appointment of a county surveyor; provide
Summary
HB236 is a local act affecting Bartow County’s county surveyor office. It abolishes the elected office of county surveyor and replaces it with an appointed county surveyor selected by the county’s governing authority. The appointed surveyor serves a one-year term, and future appointments are also for one-year terms.
The bill preserves continuity by allowing the current elected county surveyor to finish the existing term, but it ends future elections for the office. Any appointed surveyor must meet the qualifications already set out in state law for county surveyors. The act takes effect immediately upon gubernatorial approval or becoming law without approval, and it repeals conflicting laws.
Impact
HB236 changes the method of selecting Bartow County’s county surveyor from election to appointment, but only for that county. It amends local governance under authority in the Georgia Code and affects the administration of the county surveyor office by shifting appointment power to the county governing authority, while keeping the statewide qualification standards for the office in place. The bill does not create a new office; it restructures how the existing office is filled and eliminates future elections for that position in Bartow County.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Georgia House 167-0 and the Senate 46-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. The absence of committee transcript discussion also suggests there was little public or legislative dispute over the measure.
Contention
There is no recorded substantive contention in the available materials. The only potential point of policy interest is the shift from an elected to an appointed county surveyor, which changes local democratic selection to appointment by the county governing authority. However, the unanimous votes suggest that any concern about that change did not generate opposition in the legislature.