The U.S. state of Georgia is divided into 159 counties, the second-highest number after Texas, which has 254 counties. Under the Georgia State Constitution, all of its counties are granted home rule to deal with problems that are purely local in nature. Also, eight consolidated city-counties have been established in Georgia: Athens–Clarke County, Augusta–Richmond County, Columbus–Muscogee County, Georgetown–Quitman County, Statenville–Echols County, Macon–Bibb County, Cusseta–Chattahoochee County, and Preston-Webster County.

History

From 1732 until 1758, the minor civil divisions in Georgia were districts and towns. In 1758, the Province of Georgia was divided into eight parishes, and another four parishes were created in 1765. On February 5, 1777, the original eight counties of the state were created: Burke, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Richmond, and Wilkes. Georgia has the second-largest number of counties of any state in the United States, only behind Texas, which has 254 counties. One traditional reasoning for the creation and location of so many counties in Georgia was that a country farmer, rancher, or lumberman should be able to travel to the legal county seat town or city, and then back home, in one day on horseback or via wagon. About 25 counties in Georgia were created in the first quarter of the 20th century, after the use of the railroad, automobile, truck, and bus had become possible. Because of the County Unit System, later declared unconstitutional, new counties, no matter the population, had at least one representative in the state house, keeping political power in rural areas. The last new county to be established in Georgia was Peach County, founded in 1924. The proliferation of counties in Georgia led to multiple state constitutional amendments attempting to limit the number of counties. The most recent such amendment, ratified in 1945, limited the number to 159 counties, although there had been 161 counties from 1924 to 1931. In a rare consolidation of counties, both Campbell County and Milton County were annexed into Fulton County in 1932 as a financial move during the Great Depression, since those two county governments were nearly bankrupt. Fulton County contains Atlanta, and it was thought that tax revenues from Atlanta and its suburbs would help to support the rural areas of the discarded counties, which had very little tax income of their own—mostly from property taxes on farms and forests, which did not amount to much. Due to Georgia's high number of unpopulated counties, Georgia judges are able to get around a state constitutional provision prohibiting banishment "beyond the limits of this state" by banishing criminals from all but one county of the state, usually Echols County. Because the one county where the banished criminal is technically allowed to live is so unpopulated, the banished criminals will leave the state of Georgia rather than move to that county. Georgia is the only state that still allows sole commissioner county government. As of 2021, seven of the state's 159 counties operate under that system. During the 2022 legislative session, the Georgia General Assembly began considering reducing the number of counties in the state. Despite the state increasing in population by over one million according to the 2020 Census, 67 counties lost population, mostly in rural areas. The rationale for consolidating counties is to reduce costs for county services such as school systems, law enforcement and elections.

Changed names of counties

A few counties in Georgia have changed their names. Jasper County was originally named "Randolph County". Later, the present-day Randolph County was founded. Webster County was once named "Kinchafoonee County", and Bartow County was originally named "Cass County".

Defunct counties

Majority-minority counties

Per the 2020 Census, 36 of Georgia's 159 counties are majority-minority. Eighteen have African-American majorities and 18 are majority-minority with no dominant group. An influx of immigrants to the Atlanta metropolitan area and Latino workers to the Black Belt has helped to fuel the shift.

Fictional counties

Film Television Theater Books

Counties listing