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  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Highways, Bridges, and Ferries
  4. State, County, and Municipal Road Systems
  5. County Road Systems
  6. General Powers and Duties of Counties
  7. Powers

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The powers of a county with respect to its county road system, unless otherwise expressly limited by law, shall include but not be limited to the following:

  1. A county shall have the authority to negotiate, let, and enter into contracts with any person or any agency, county, or municipality of the state for the construction, maintenance, administration, or operation of any public road or activities incident thereto in such manner and subject to such express limitations as may be provided by Part 2 of this article or any other provision of law. A county shall also have the authority to perform such road work with its own forces or with a combination of its own forces and the work of a contractor, notwithstanding any contrary provisions of Chapter 91 of Title 36;
  2. A county shall have the authority to accept and use federal and state funds and to do all things necessary, proper, or expedient to achieve compliance with the provisions and requirements of all applicable federal-aid or state-aid acts and programs in connection with the county's public roads. Nothing in this title is intended to conflict with any federal law and, in case of such conflict, such portion as may be in conflict with such federal law is declared of no effect to the extent of the conflict;
    1. A county shall have the authority to acquire and dispose of real property or any interest therein for public road purposes, as provided in Article 1 of Chapter 3 of this title and in Chapter 7 of this title. In any action to condemn property or interests therein for such purposes, notice thereof shall be signed by the condemning county; and such notice shall be deemed to be the official action of the county in regard to the commencement of such condemnation proceedings. For good cause shown a county, at any time after commencement of condemnation proceedings and prior to final judgment therein, may dismiss its condemnation action, provided that (i) the condemnation proceedings have not been instituted under Article 1 of Chapter 3 of this title, and (ii) the condemnor has first paid to the condemnee all expenses and damages accrued to the condemnee up to the date of the filing of the motion for dismissal of the condemnation action.
    2. Pursuant to the requirements of Part 2 of this article, a county shall have the power to purchase, borrow, rent, lease, control, manage, receive, and make payment for all personal property, such as equipment, machinery, vehicles, supplies, material, and furniture, which may be needed in the operation of its county road system; to lease, rent, lend, or otherwise transfer temporarily county property used for road purposes, as authorized by law; to sell or otherwise dispose of all personal property owned by the county and used in the operation of the county road system which is unserviceable; and to execute such instruments as may be necessary in connection with the exercise of the powers described in this subparagraph;
  4. A county and its authorized agents and employees may enter upon any lands in the county for the purpose of making such surveys, soundings, drillings, and examinations as the county may deem necessary or desirable to accomplish the purposes of this title; and such entry shall not be deemed a trespass nor shall it be deemed an entry which would constitute a taking in a condemnation proceeding, provided that reasonable notice of such entry shall be given the owner or occupant of such property, such entry shall be done in a reasonable manner with as little inconvenience as possible to the owner or occupant of the property, and the county shall make reimbursement for any actual damages resulting from such entry;
  5. A county shall have the authority to employ, discharge, promote, set and pay the salaries and compensation of its personnel, and determine the duties, qualifications, and working conditions for all persons whose services are needed in the construction, maintenance, administration, operation, and development of its county road system; to work inmates maintained in the county correctional institution or inmates hired from the Department of Corrections and maintained by the latter; and to employ or contract with such engineers, surveyors, attorneys, consultants, and all other employees as independent contractors whose services may be required, subject to the limitations of existing law;
  6. A county may grant permits and establish reasonable regulations for the installation, construction, maintenance, renewal, removal, and relocation of pipes, mains, conduits, cables, wires, poles, towers, traffic and other signals, and other equipment, facilities, or appliances of any utility in, on, along, over, or under the public roads of the county which are a part of the county road system lying outside the corporate limits of a municipality. However, such regulations shall not be more restrictive with respect to utilities affected thereby than are equivalent regulations promulgated by the department with respect to utilities on the state highway system under authority of Code Section 32-6-174. As a condition precedent to the granting of such permits, the county may require application in writing specifically describing the nature, extent, and location of the portion of the utility affected and may also require the applicant to furnish an indemnity bond or other acceptable security conditioned to pay any damages to any part of the county road system or to any member of the public caused by work of the utility performed under authority of such permit. At all times it shall be the duty of the county to ensure that the normal operation of the utility does not interfere with the use of the county road system. The county may also order the removal or discontinuance of the utility, equipment, facility, or appliances where such removal and relocation are made necessary by the construction or maintenance of any part of the county road system lying outside the corporate limits of a municipality. In so ordering the removal and relocation of a utility or in performing such work itself, the county shall conform to the procedure set forth for the department in Code Sections 32-6-171 and 32-6-173, except that when the removal and relocation have been performed by the county, it shall certify the expenses thereof for collection to its county attorney;
  7. A county shall have the power to purchase supplies for county road system purposes through the state as authorized by Code Sections 50-5-100 through 50-5-102;
  8. In addition to any taxes authorized by Article 4 of Chapter 5 of Title 48 to be levied and collected for the construction and maintenance of its county road system and activities incident thereto, a county is authorized to levy and collect any millage as may be necessary for such purposes;
  9. A county may provide for surveys, maps, specifications, and other things necessary in designating, supervising, locating, abandoning, relocating, improving, constructing, or maintaining the county road system, or any part thereof, or any activities incident thereto or necessary in doing such other work on public roads as the county may be given responsibility for or control of by law;
  10. In addition to the powers specifically delegated to it in this title and except as otherwise provided by Code Section 12-6-24, a county shall have the authority to adopt and enforce rules, regulations, or ordinances; to require permits; and to perform all other acts which are necessary, proper, or incidental to the efficient operation and development of the county road system; and this title shall be liberally construed to that end. Any power vested in or duty placed on a county but not implemented by specific provisions for the exercise thereof may be executed and carried out by a county in a reasonable manner subject to such limitations as may be provided by law;
  11. In all counties of this state having a population of 550,000 or more according to the United States decennial census of 1970 or any future such census, the county governing authority shall be empowered by ordinance or resolution to assess against any property the cost of reopening, repairing, or cleaning up from any public way, street, road, right of way, or highway any debris, dirt, sediment, soil, trash, building materials, and other physical materials originating on such property as a result of any private construction activity carried on by any developer, contractor, subcontractor, or owner of such property. Any assessment authorized under this paragraph, the interest thereon, and the expense of collection shall be a lien against the property so assessed coequal with the lien of other taxes and shall be enforced in the same manner as are state and county ad valorem property taxes by issuance of a fi. fa. and levy and sale as set forth in Title 48, known as the "Georgia Public Revenue Code"; and
  12. Municipalities whose incorporating Acts became of full force and effect on or after May 1, 2017, but prior to January 1, 2019, shall not establish or maintain restrictions on access by commercial motor vehicles as defined in paragraph (8.1) of Code Section 40-1-1 to portions of the road system providing access to commercial driveways as defined in Code Section 32-6-130, except as to the applicable road system, exceeding any county restrictions in effect on such portions on the date of incorporation unless such county by ordinance or resolution concurs on such restriction.

(Code 1933, § 95A-402, enacted by Ga. L. 1973, p. 947, § 1; Ga. L. 1974, p. 1422, § 13; Ga. L. 1981, p. 3259, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1982, p. 2107, § 28; Ga. L. 1983, p. 3, § 23; Ga. L. 1985, p. 283, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 94, § 32; Ga. L. 2000, p. 498, § 8; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1126, § 2; Ga. L. 2018, p. 372, § 4/SB 445.)

The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, deleted "and" at the end of paragraph (10); substituted "Code'; and" for "Code."' at the end of paragraph (11); and added paragraph (12).

Cross references.

- Authority of counties to erect bridges across navigable streams, T. 36, C. 14.

Use of parking meter receipts to pay principal, interest, and other expenses of revenue bonds issued to finance public parking areas or public parking buildings, § 36-82-62.

Promulgation of rules and regulations governing hiring out of inmates to Department of Transportation, municipalities, counties, and others, § 42-5-60.

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1982, "coequal" was substituted for "co-equal" in the last sentence of paragraph (11).

Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2019, "paragraph (8.1)" was substituted for "paragraph (8.3)" near the middle of paragraph (12).

Law reviews.

- For annual survey article on real property law, see 52 Mercer L. Rev. 383 (2000). For annual survey of administrative law, see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 31 (2004). For annual survey of local government law, see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 351 (2004).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under former Civil Code 1895, § 602 and former Civil Code 1910, § 640, which were subsequently repealed but were succeeded by provisions in this Code section are included in the annotations for this Code section.

Utility right of way fee.

- County was not entitled to extract from power company a tax, franchise fee, rental fee, or other charge in return for permission to use county road rights of way outside of municipalities for erection, maintenance, and use of power transmission lines. DeKalb County v. Georgia Power Co., 249 Ga. 704, 292 S.E.2d 709 (1982).

County had authority to grant permits and establish reasonable regulations for the installation of pipes, conduits, cables, and wires on the county's public roads; thus, the county had the "necessarily implied authority" to charge companies, such as the telecommunication company, a permit fee for the company's application to use the county's public rights-of-way. Accordingly, the county had the authority to enforce the county's ordinance imposing that fee and furthermore the telecommunication company did not show that the ordinance was unconstitutional. BellSouth Telecomms., Inc. v. Cobb County, 277 Ga. 314, 588 S.E.2d 704 (2003).

Control over water mains.

- There was nothing in the 1979 Act creating the Coweta County Water and Sewer Authority that extended the county's control over water mains not belonging to the county authority. The county's authority to regulate the City of Newnan's Water, Sewerage and Light Commission's progress into the county was limited only by paragraph (6) of O.C.G.A. § 32-4-42. Coweta County v. City of Newnan, 253 Ga. 457, 320 S.E.2d 747 (1984).

When privately built bridge is county bridge.

- Bridge constructed by private citizens, part of the material being furnished by the citizens, in accordance with an agreement with county officials, is a county bridge. County of Tattnall v. Newton, 112 Ga. 779, 38 S.E. 47 (1901) (decided under former Civil Code 1895, § 602).

County right to acquire land for state.

- County authorities in charge of laying out and constructing public highways can accept lands dedicated by their owners for public roads, and can open and build new public roads therein in cooperation with the State Highway Department (now Department of Transportation) under contract with the federal government. Lee County v. Mayor of Smithville, 154 Ga. 550, 115 S.E. 107 (1922) (decided under former Civil Code 1910, § 640).

County liable to power company for movement of power lines from private property easement.

- Trial court properly found that a power company was entitled to compensation from a county for the taking of the company's private property easements, including the costs of relocating the electrical power and distribution poles, when the county widened a road because a 1929 franchise agreement did not apply to situations where the power company was forced by the county to relocate power transmission lines and poles that the company originally erected on private property easements. Clayton County v. Ga. Power Co., 340 Ga. App. 60, 796 S.E.2d 16 (2017).

Authorization to enter arbitration.

- O.C.G.A. § 32-4-42 is to be liberally construed to promulgate the efficient operation and development of the county road system; the county was authorized to consent to arbitration as a means of resolving road construction contract disputes. Bryan County v. Yates Paving & Grading Co., 251 Ga. App. 441, 554 S.E.2d 584 (2001).

Cited in Chatham County Comm'rs v. Seaboard Coast Line R.R., 169 Ga. App. 607, 314 S.E.2d 449 (1984); Georgia Power Co. v. Collum, 176 Ga. App. 61, 334 S.E.2d 922 (1985); Bibb County v. Georgia Power Co., 241 Ga. App. 131, 525 S.E.2d 136 (1999).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Contract for improvement of county road located in municipality.

- County may, by contract, obtain the cooperation of a municipality in the right-of-way acquisition for, and construction and maintenance of, a county road located within the municipality, but the county cannot require this of a municipality absent an appropriate contract. 1986 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U86-27.

Sheriff authorized to enforce traffic regulations.

- Counties have authority to regulate amount of weight which may be carried over specific county roads by ordinances which amount to establishment of truck routes. 1982 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 82-20.

Any city or county ordinances purporting to regulate vehicular weights must not exceed maximum weights permitted by O.C.G.A. § 32-6-26. 1982 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 82-20.

County sheriff's department may enforce ordinances prohibiting trucks over ten wheels from using residential roads within county except when making temporary deliveries. 1996 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U96-17.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Power of eminent domain as between state and subdivision or agency thereof, or as between different subdivisions or agencies themselves, 35 A.L.R.3d 1293.

PART 2 EXERCISE BY COUNTIES OF POWER TO CONTRACT GENERALLY

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Construction and effect of "changed conditions" clause in public works or construction contract with state or its subdivision, 56 A.L.R.4th 1042.


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