Editing List of counties in Georgia (section)

==History==
[[File:Creation of Georgia Counties 1777-1932.jpg|right|thumb|Formation of counties 1777-1932]]
From 1732 until 1758, the minor civil divisions in Georgia were districts and towns. In 1758, the [[Province of Georgia]] was divided into [[Province of Georgia#Development of the colony|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 [[List of counties in Texas|254 counties]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REtEXQNWq6MC&pg=PA215 |title=Historical Gazetteer of the United States |publisher=Routledge |date=May 13, 2013 |access-date=30 November 2013 |author=Hellmann, Paul T. |pages=215 |isbn=978-1135948597 |archive-date=18 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818182220/https://books.google.com/books?id=REtEXQNWq6MC&pg=PA215 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wabe.org/why-ga-has-second-highest-number-counties-us/|title=Why Ga. Has The Second Highest Number Of Counties In The US|last=Stokes|first=Stephannie|date=April 4, 2016|work=WABE|access-date=November 10, 2018|archive-date=November 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110200232/https://www.wabe.org/why-ga-has-second-highest-number-counties-us/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Galileo">{{cite web|url=https://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/history/article/modern-georgia-1990-present/a-brief-history-of-georgia-counties|title=A Brief History of Georgia Counties|last=Jackson|first=Ed|website=Georgia Info|access-date=November 10, 2018|archive-date=November 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110200134/https://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/history/article/modern-georgia-1990-present/a-brief-history-of-georgia-counties|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 amendment]]s 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, Georgia|Campbell County]] and [[Milton County, Georgia|Milton County]] were annexed into [[Fulton County, Georgia|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 [[suburb]]s would help to support the rural areas of the discarded counties, which had very little tax income of their own—mostly from [[property tax]]es 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.<ref>Yung, Corey Rayburn (January 2007). "Banishment by a Thousand Laws: Residency Restrictions on Sex Offenders". Washington Law Review. 85 (1). The majority opinion in Collett did not address the fact that any of the defendants sentenced to 158-county banishment would likely choose to live in Ware or Echols County. The result of the 158-county banishment sentences, while not technically ordering the defendants to leave the state, has been to cause such an exodus to occur.</ref>

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 [[156th Georgia General Assembly|2022 legislative session]], the Georgia General Assembly began considering reducing the number of counties in the state.<ref name="County reduction">{{cite web |last1=Richards |first1=Doug |title=Georgia lawmakers consider consolidating counties--What that could mean for metro Atlanta |url=https://www.11alive.com/article/news/politics/does-georgia-have-too-many-counties/85-9f5ad0e7-bdc3-4c88-8180-0f44afd11176 |publisher=WXIA-TV |access-date=February 8, 2022 |date=February 7, 2022}}</ref> Despite the state increasing in population by over one million according to the [[2020 United States census|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.<ref name="County reduction" /><ref>{{cite web |title=2020 Census Count by Georgia County Population |url=https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/reapportionment-document-library/2020-count-by-county-population--with-2010.pdf?sfvrsn=cbc99191_2 |publisher=Georgia General Assembly |access-date=February 8, 2022 |date=August 12, 2021}}</ref>