Lawmakers advanced Cobb County’s district map Tuesday, reinstating district lines approved by the Legislature last year before the Board of Commissioners amended the map — an unprecedented move that has left the board operating in an uncertain legal limbo since Jan 1.
In tandem with Senate Bill 124 banning counties from changing their own district maps, Sen. Ed Setzler brought Senate Bill 236 to reinstall the map passed last year that drew Commissioner Jerica Richardson out of her seat halfway through her term.
In response to the Legislature’s original map, the commission’s Democratic majority changed it to keep Richardson’s residence inside her district and preserve her seat.
Commissioners justified the change as legal under the Home Rule statute of the state constitution, which does give counties some power to amend local legislation. But it is a legal argument that has never before been tested in the courts.
State officials have decried the change as unconstitutional, including Setzler, who aims to prevent the issue from being decided in court.
“We’re bringing it so that there’s no claim, no color of law, in which this home rule power that was asserted — this novel home rule power — would have some lingering effect beyond the passage of Senate Bill 124,” Setzler said.
It is not clear whether Richardson would be removed from office if the map goes through, but the county charter says that commissioners must live in the district they represent. Richardson said she believes “the seat would become vacant per the installation of that map.”
Richardson and Chairwoman Lisa Cupid both testified against the bill at the Reapportionment and Redistricting committee hearing, defending the county’s home rule assertion, which Cupid called a “novel response to a novel action taken by the General Assembly.”
“This should be up to the courts to decide,” Richardson said.
But Setzler argued the issue is better resolved by lawmakers.
“The Legislature should decide and clarify matters of law,” he said. “We shouldn’t wait for a court case to duke something out and try to adjudicate what the constitution says.”
The argument of whether home rule applies to local redistricting is a constitutional question, not one of state statute, said Clint Mueller, director of governmental affairs with the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia.
“I don’t think, you can’t change the constitution with statutory language,” Mueller said. “There’s a disagreement over what the constitution says, and that’s what we’re waiting for the courts to rule on.”
Even if Setzler’s bills are successful, they won’t necessarily interfere with the lawsuit filed by Commissioner Keli Gambril and resident Larry Savage that seeks a court ruling on whether the county’s move to change the map was unconstitutional.
“Lawsuits are based on the laws that existed when the lawsuit was filed, not any change to the law,” Mueller said.
Gambrill declined to comment.
Senators questioned why a local bill like a county map was not going through the traditional process of approval through the local delegation, and said removing a sitting commissioner from their seat was unfair.
In response, Setzler said he would be open to an amendment to SB 124, which the committee passed Monday, to allow sitting elected officials to continue serving through the end of their terms even if they are drawn out of their districts.
The committee approved SB 236, and now both bills can advance to the Rules committee and then to a full Senate floor vote. But even if both bills succeed in the Legislature, many unanswered questions remain.
“I know everyone’s eager for answers, but I just don’t think there’s a quick answer here,” Mueller said. “I think the courts are going to need to be the ones to answer it.”
