Unincorporate Now began in Mableton and is being built for communities across Georgia. We connect official records, plain-language legal guidance, local case tracking, community reporting, and practical organizing tools so residents can ask better questions and act together.
Understanding the scope and limits of Unincorporate Now is essential before relying on any information here. We are an independent, volunteer-led community reporting and resource network. We hold ourselves to strict sourcing standards and clearly label every type of content we publish—from verified official records to campaign positions.
Independent. Volunteer-led. Nonpartisan in structure; transparent when taking an issue position.
"Shall the Act be approved which authorizes the City of Mableton, Georgia, to exercise all redevelopment powers allowed under the 'Redevelopment Powers Law,' as it may be amended from time to time?"
Unincorporate Now urges residents to vote NO on the HB 1213 redevelopment-powers question until public trust is earned through clearer disclosure, meaningful public engagement, and transparent fiscal analysis. This position is separate from the campaign for a binding vote on Mableton's municipal future.
Facts last verified: August 20, 2026. A number without context is not informed consent. Residents should be able to see the expected taxes, service plan, debt, contracts, assets, liabilities, transition schedule, and alternatives before a binding vote.
Verified Official Record. Yes: 13,191 (53.01%); No: 11,694 (46.99%). Certified election result, November 8, 2022. View the certified 2022 Mableton referendum result
Verified Official Record. City of Mableton announced Council adopted a dedicated 4.5-mill public-safety rate on July 13, 2026, by a 6–1 vote. All projected revenue and household-impact figures are attributed to the City's announcement. Read the City's July 2026 announcement
The 2022 question combined incorporation with term limits, conflict-of-interest provisions, and community improvement districts in a single ballot question. Read signed HB 839
No Mableton dissolution referendum is currently scheduled. The November 3, 2026 question is the HB 1213 redevelopment-powers measure. These are distinct legal matters.
We are asking the Georgia General Assembly to create a lawful, binding path for Mableton residents to reconsider the city's future. The final decision should belong to affected voters through one plain question after full fiscal and transition disclosure—not through a misleading shortcut and not through assumptions about what residents want.
Addressing repeal of the Mableton charter or a binding reconsideration process through the Georgia General Assembly.
Covering revenue, taxes, debt, contracts, assets, liabilities, service delivery, personnel, courts, zoning, elections, and transition timelines.
That clearly states the decision and its effect, written in plain language that any resident can understand without legal training.
Under the rules established by law. The campaign respects the outcome of any fair, lawful, and fully informed vote.
Let Mableton Vote. Put Our Future on the Ballot. Legal is the floor. Informed consent is the standard.
Georgia incorporated the original Town of Mableton in 1912 and repealed its charter in 1916. The modern city was approved in 2022. History does not decide today's outcome—but it proves municipal boundaries and charters are public choices created through law.
Illustrative image created for Unincorporate Now. Historical and current scenes are visual reconstructions, not photographs of actual Mableton events or residents.
Informed consent requires complete information. These are the questions that local organizers, residents, and public editors are tracking. If you have documents, meeting records, or verified answers that belong here, use the link below to help build the public question ledger.
What services does Mableton provide directly, and what does Cobb County provide under contract?
What taxes, fees, millage rates, franchise fees, and assessments support each service?
What contracts can be terminated, assigned, or transferred—and at what cost?
What debt, liabilities, reserves, equipment, facilities, records, and legal claims exist?
What happens to zoning, permits, business licenses, municipal court matters, elections, and employees during a transition?
What would return to Cobb County, what would require negotiation, and what could require a special service district?
What independent fiscal assumptions have been tested, by whom, and on what date?
What protections ensure the ballot question is understandable and limited to one decision?
Every entry below is sourced. Entries marked Campaign Position are what local organizers seek—they are not official or enacted actions. Facts last verified: August 20, 2026.
A local Act of the Georgia General Assembly incorporated the original Town of Mableton.
A later local Act repealed the 1912 charter. Mableton remained unincorporated for over a century.
The local Act established the modern City of Mableton subject to a resident referendum. Read signed HB 839
Certified result: 13,191 Yes (53.01%) and 11,694 No (46.99%). View certified result
Link only to verified official records when entries are added. [VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISHING: add citation links to official records of first elections and council seating.]
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the constitutionality of HB 839 against the challenges presented. Read White v. City of Mableton
City announcement says Council adopted 4.5 mills, 6–1 vote. Read the City's announcement
Redevelopment powers measure. This is not a dissolution vote. Read signed HB 1213
Local organizers are seeking a lawful dissolution/reconsideration path and full public disclosure from the Georgia General Assembly. This is a campaign goal, not an enacted law or scheduled official action.
One vote covered incorporation and several charter features at once. Understanding exactly what residents approved in 2022 is essential to any honest discussion of what it would take to change it.
"Shall the Act incorporating the City of Mableton in Cobb County, imposing term limits, prohibiting conflicts of interest, and creating community improvement districts be approved?"
Exact HB 839 ballot wording — Verified Official Record
In 2025, the Supreme Court of Georgia rejected the constitutional challenges before it and upheld HB 839. The Court did not find the ballot misleading or illegal.
The campaign argues that a legally valid combined question can still fall short of the clarity and advance disclosure residents should receive as a matter of public policy.
Under current Georgia law, an active municipality can be dissolved only by a local Act of the Georgia General Assembly or by another method provided in general law. Georgia's Constitution preserves the General Assembly's authority to repeal municipal charters without requiring a referendum. Unincorporate Now's demand for a binding resident vote is therefore a policy and legislation goal—not an existing universal voter-veto right.
The table below explains five distinct routes. Do not confuse them with each other. Facts last verified: August 20, 2026.
This describes the typical pathway for pursuing a local Act in the Georgia General Assembly. Exact requirements vary by issue type, legislative session, and committee practice. Use this as a starting framework, not a legal checklist. Always verify current statutes and legislative rules.
Repeal, reconsideration referendum, boundary change, consolidation, charter reform, or another remedy. Write a one-sentence public ask before filing anything.
Gather the charter, audits, budgets, contracts, service agreements, debt documents, court matters, maps, tax data, and certified election records.
Identify affected House and Senate districts, local governing bodies, election officials, the county legal organ (the legally designated official local newspaper), and relevant committees. Find your Georgia legislators
Work with a legislator, legislative counsel, and qualified municipal counsel. Do not circulate an informal draft as a filed bill.
Georgia Code § 28-1-14 generally requires notice of intent to introduce local legislation to be published once in the affected locality's official legal organ no more than 60 days before introduction, with required copies and an affidavit. Read Georgia Code § 28-1-14
Show sponsors, text versions, committee assignments, votes, amendments, chamber status, and Governor action in the public tracker.
Fiscal, service, debt, asset, liability, personnel, zoning, court, election, and transition impacts—all in plain language before a vote.
Publish exact ballot text, eligibility rules, dates, deadlines, and official results. Never paraphrase official wording.
Assign owners, dates, dependencies, records, and unresolved disputes. Keep it updated after votes and legal actions.
A complete transition requires tracking dozens of interconnected systems. This checklist is organized into seven categories. Each item needs fields for: owner, source, current status, target date, dependency, cost, public note, and last updated date. Use this as a starting framework—add your city's specific contracts and records as they are verified.
Unincorporate Now proposes a 2027 framework—tentatively called the Georgia Municipal Consent and Exit Rights Act—to establish a statewide standard process. This is a campaign proposal. It is not current law, an introduced bill, or a commitment by any legislator. All elements would require legislative drafting, introduction, passage, and signing before taking effect.
A constitutionally sound petition threshold that can trigger legislative consideration of incorporation reconsideration, dissolution, major boundary change, or consolidation.
Published before any vote, covering taxes, revenue, debt, contracts, assets, liabilities, personnel, litigation, zoning, courts, and transition—by an independent body.
Written in plain language with minimum public-hearing, notice, accessibility, and translation standards before any resident vote.
Where legislation provides for a referendum, a detailed transition plan and continuity-of-services safeguards must accompany it.
So residents in every community can compare processes, outcomes, and lessons learned across Georgia.
Explicit prohibition on representing unofficial petitions as certified government petitions in any public communications.
This tracker shows what is proposed, what passed, what failed, and what happens next. Filter by city, county, issue type, year, bill or case number, status, source type, or last updated date. Every entry shows its source and last verified date. Status labels are updated when editors confirm a change.
Issue: Incorporation accountability, dissolution-reconsideration campaign, and redevelopment-powers referendum under HB 1213 scheduled November 3, 2026. HB 1213 is not a dissolution measure. Last verified: August 20, 2026. Read signed HB 1213
Bill: HB 542 (2023). Charter repeal effective January 1, 2024. Use as a transition-law case study, not as proof that every city follows the same process. Last verified: August 20, 2026. Read Sunny Side HB 542
Bill: SB 630 (2025–2026 session). The introduced proposal would have repealed the charter effective July 1, 2027. It did not pass and is not current law. Last verified: August 20, 2026. Track Hiram SB 630's outcome
Bill: HB 1567 (2026). Establishes a staged consolidation/unification process with separate-majority conditions and a later charter/referendum process. First referendum scheduled November 3, 2026. Do not simplify this to "Quitman dissolved." Last verified: August 20, 2026. Read Quitman/Brooks County HB 1567
Sunny Side, Spalding County — HB 542 (2023)
Georgia HB 542 repealed the City of Sunny Side charter effective January 1, 2024. The Act addressed county service delivery, assets, liabilities, debt, court matters, zoning, sales-tax treatment, and other transition subjects. It is a useful drafting example, but its terms are specific to Sunny Side and its particular relationship with Spalding County. Do not assume Mableton or another city could use identical language without independent analysis.
Service continuity: Which services did the county absorb immediately, and which required a transition period?
Asset transfer: How were municipal properties, vehicles, and equipment valued and transferred?
Debt and special districts: How were outstanding obligations assigned or extinguished?
Court matters: What happened to pending municipal court cases and open permits?
Zoning and contracts: Were existing zoning designations preserved? Which vendor contracts transferred?
Employees: What protections or severance applied to city staff?
Taxes: How did sales-tax treatment change for residents and businesses after the repeal date?
Hiram, Paulding County — SB 630 (2025–2026 session)
SB 630 is available as a proposal example—it shows how a charter-repeal bill can be structured, what transition language might look like, and what legislative steps are required. Editors keep the bill text accessible precisely so residents and researchers can study the proposal, while the outcome is clearly and prominently labeled as Did Not Pass.
The lesson from Hiram: status labels and update dates prevent outdated proposals from circulating as current law. A bill's introduction is a beginning, not an outcome. Any summary of SB 630 must show its failed status before describing its contents.
Quitman and Brooks County — HB 1567 (2026)
HB 1567 created a conditional process for possible unification of Quitman and Brooks County. The first question is scheduled for November 3, 2026 and requires separate approval majorities in the city and in the county area outside the city. This is not a single-step outcome. If those conditions are met, a commission develops a charter and a later referendum follows. The charter-repeal provisions are conditional—do not report the city as already dissolved or the unification as already decided.
The Quitman/Brooks process illustrates why a single status label cannot capture a staged framework. Each stage has its own legal threshold, its own vote, and its own outcome. Editors must update the tracker after each decision point with the official result and source.
Effective organizing starts with accurate information and ends with documented follow-through. Every step below has a practical deliverable so your coalition can show its work publicly and earn the trust of residents who have not yet decided.
Write one sentence stating the problem and one sentence stating the public ask. Do not move to step two until both sentences are clear enough for any resident to understand.
Charter, amendments, current statutes, relevant bills, court opinions, and certified election results. Track every document in the evidence ledger. Open the official Mableton charter page
For every claim: source, date, owner, verification status, counterevidence, and correction history. Use the network's evidence-ledger template.
Legislators, municipal and county officials, election superintendent, clerk, legal organ, committees, agencies, and courts. Find your Georgia legislators
Assign roles for research, records, communications, coalition care, meetings, accessibility, and compliance. No role should be a single point of failure.
No harassment, doxxing, discrimination, fabrication, or speaking for another group without written consent.
Write narrow requests with specific date ranges, named custodians, and cost estimates. Log every request and publish responses when received.
Services, taxes, debt, contracts, assets, liabilities, employees, courts, zoning, and records. Share it publicly so residents can add what they know.
Bring a one-page ask, proposed language, source packet, resident stories, and a written follow-up memo. Log commitments and non-responses alike.
Hearings, council meetings, committee meetings, candidate forums, public comments, and lawful voter education. Being present in official spaces is part of the record.
Fact sheet, source links, press note, official-response tracker, correction path, and sponsorship disclosure where required by Georgia law.
Track commitments, bill movement, records received, volunteers trained, voters reached, corrections made, and the next decision date.
These reusable templates are designed for residents, coalition editors, and researchers. Every template includes a version date and a "not legal advice" notice where the content touches on legal matters. Download formats are editable so coalitions can adapt them for their city.
Purpose: Submit a formal request under Georgia's Open Records Act. When to use: Any time you need official documents from a public body. Not legal advice.
Purpose: Track every claim, its source, date, verification status, and correction history. When to use: From day one of any research or organizing effort.
Purpose: Guide a structured review of a municipal charter. When to use: Before any legislative ask or public comment about charter provisions.
Purpose: Extract key figures from annual budgets and audit reports. When to use: Preparing fiscal questions, comparing service costs, or reviewing millage impacts.
Purpose: Document which services a city provides directly versus through contracts. When to use: Building a transition plan or preparing a disclosure packet.
Purpose: Compare millage rates, franchise fees, and other charges across jurisdictions. When to use: Preparing a fiscal disclosure packet or voter-education material.
Purpose: List all financial obligations and municipal assets. When to use: Ahead of any dissolution or transition discussion.
Purpose: Track every service, obligation, and record that must be addressed in a transition. Linked to Section 11 categories.
Purpose: Record bill sponsors, text versions, amendments, committee assignments, votes, and Governor action. When to use: Throughout a legislative session.
Purpose: Record meeting date, attendees, agenda, motions, votes, and public comments in a consistent format for the evidence ledger.
Purpose: Give individuals and organizations a structured way to request corrections or provide a right-of-reply response. Linked to editorial standards.
These templates help residents show up prepared at public meetings, legislative hearings, and candidate forums. Every template includes a sponsorship and compliance placeholder for communications that may require disclosure under Georgia law. Verify current campaign-finance requirements before distributing campaign-position material.
Will you support a lawful, binding, plain-language vote—after full fiscal and transition disclosure—so affected residents can decide their municipal future?
Structured email or letter requesting a formal meeting with your House or Senate member.
Standard question for candidate forums and official town halls. Document the exact response.
Timed, factual, single-ask comment for council and commission meetings.
Longer format for committee hearings. Includes source citations and a source packet.
Summary of the proposed legislation with sponsor, ask, fiscal impact, and source links.
Concise, factual script for constituent calls to legislative offices.
Memorializes what an official said, when, and to whom. Shared with the official for accuracy.
Factual, source-linked format for notifying journalists of public actions and filings.
Standard agenda structure for coalition orientations, records workshops, and volunteer trainings.
Plain-language fact sheet without campaign-position language. Uses descriptive source links.
Clearly labeled with compliance placeholder. Do not distribute without a current Georgia campaign-finance review.
Do not paraphrase an official's response if an exact written statement is available. Update the tracker within five business days of receiving a response.
This directory uses roles and official finders rather than a hard-coded list of current officials. Elected and appointed positions change frequently. Always verify the current officeholder through official sources before contacting anyone listed here.
Find your current House and Senate members by address. Find your Georgia legislators
Charter, ordinances, meeting records, public notices, and municipal documents. Contact the City of Mableton directly for verified contact information. Open the official Mableton charter page
County contracts, service records, and intergovernmental agreements. Contact the Cobb County government directly for current department and custodian information.
Official ballot text, voter registration, election dates, and certified results. Verify all ballot-related information through the official elections office, not through secondary sources.
The legally designated official local newspaper where required public notices are published. Clearly distinguish paid legal notice from general news coverage.
Official bill text, substitutions, votes, and status. Always link to the official Georgia General Assembly pages for current bill information.
Coverage, forums, and public education. Each listing is labeled as a partner, resource, or relevant outlet. No endorsement is implied without written consent.
Legal advice and bill or transition review. Do not use this network's educational information as a substitute. Listing here does not imply endorsement without the attorney's or firm's consent.
A city hub is a verified local workspace inside Unincorporate Now. It can focus on dissolution, reconsideration, deannexation, consolidation, incorporation review, charter reform, taxes, service delivery, redevelopment powers, or another documented municipal-accountability issue. Joining does not require every coalition to take the Mableton campaign position.
Verified contact and public listing. The lowest barrier to entry—a way to be found by residents in your area without committing to a full publishing infrastructure.
Structured timeline, document library, events calendar, community reports, and local calls to action. Full use of network publishing and organizing tools.
Legal education, records help, accessibility, translation, data, media, or training support. For organizations that want to contribute expertise without running a local campaign hub.
Page, form, and communication templates ready to adapt for your city.
Shared correction and source-verification practices that build public trust.
Add your city's case, track legislation, and share updates statewide.
Referrals to other coalitions facing similar issues and what they learned.
Six coalition accent themes that preserve local identity while keeping core brand elements consistent.
Optional private coordination channel while a verified public contact is established.
Complete this form to apply for a verified listing or city hub. Your submission goes to private moderation first. A community editor will verify the group, clarify publishing permissions, and respond from an unincorporatenow@gmail.com address. Submission does not imply endorsement or immediate publication.
Use this form to share a public record, firsthand observation, meeting update, service concern, official statement, or correction. Reports are reviewed privately before anything is published. Anonymous public display may be available, but editors must have a safe way to verify material unless the evidence independently verifies itself.
Your submission goes directly to editors. Nothing is published automatically. A confirmation is sent to your contact address.
Editors verify the primary source, cross-check official records, and note what can and cannot be independently confirmed.
When a report involves significant factual criticism of a person or body, editors seek a response before publishing.
A record of the decision is kept. If a report is declined, the submitter is notified. All decisions follow the network's editorial standards.
City, county, topic, event or record date, public body or project involved, and detailed description of what occurred, where, when, and who was present.
Is this firsthand, an official record, news coverage, analysis, or something heard from another person? The type affects how editors verify and label it.
Source links, file upload placeholder, people or organizations named, and whether you requested an official response. Attach any response received.
Name, email or phone, public name preference (full name / first name only / role only / anonymous to the public), retaliation or safety concern, and consent to store and review submitted material.
Before submitting, confirm:
Every listing below must show host, purpose, exact date and time with time zone, address or video link, accessibility features, cost, capacity or registration requirement, child-friendly status if verified, contact, source, and last verified date. Do not imply that a café or venue endorses the campaign merely because a meeting occurs there.
[VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISHING: confirm all meeting dates with official host before listing.]
Every resource item includes a plain-language title, jurisdiction, document type, official or unofficial source indicator, publication or effective date, a short note on why it matters, a descriptive source link, archived-copy status if lawfully retained, last link-check date, and an accessibility note for scanned or image-only documents. Never display a raw URL as the title.
Advocacy with receipts. Unincorporate Now may take clearly labeled positions on issues while maintaining strict standards for facts, sources, and corrections. Our credibility depends on following these commitments consistently, not selectively.
Whenever a record is available, we link it. We do not describe the existence of a document—we link to it with descriptive text.
Verified facts, community reports, analysis, and campaign positions are always labeled distinctly. The difference is never implied—it is stated.
Unanswered questions are published as unanswered. Editorial placeholders like [VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISHING] are visible until resolved.
When a person or body faces significant factual criticism, we ask for a response before publishing and note whether one was received.
Material errors are corrected with a dated correction notice. The original wording, corrected wording, and reason are recorded in the correction log.
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Sponsors, paid content, fiscal support, and organizational conflicts are disclosed. Coalition listings do not imply endorsement of every statement a coalition makes.
Correction form fields: page or claim, exact passage in question, requested correction, supporting source link, your name, contact information, relationship to the issue, and public or private response preference. Corrections are acknowledged within five business days.
These notices are written in plain language. They apply to all users of this website and all submissions to this network. Laws and rules can change—verify current legal requirements with qualified counsel for any specific matter.
Educational and advocacy information only. Georgia statutes, local Acts, court rules, and election procedures change. Verify with official sources and seek qualified Georgia counsel for any specific bill, petition, election, or transition matter.
Unincorporate Now is independent and volunteer-led. It is not affiliated with any government agency, court, law firm, election office, or political party.
Direct all emergencies to 911 or the appropriate emergency service. Do not use any form on this website for urgent safety matters.
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Submit links and permission-cleared materials only. Do not upload entire copyrighted publications you do not own. The network accepts links to official sources and materials for which you have rights or permission to share.
Before accepting or spending money to influence a ballot question, obtain current guidance on Georgia campaign-committee registration, reporting, banking, and sponsorship-disclaimer requirements. Georgia State Ethics Commission. Read Georgia's ballot-question committee definition
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Unincorporate Now began with Mableton residents asking a basic civic question: if state law can create, reshape, or repeal a city, how do residents obtain clear facts and meaningful choice? The network turns that question into shared public infrastructure—records, legal explainers, case tracking, coalition tools, and accountable community reporting—for communities across Georgia.
We are volunteers. We do not speak for every resident, every coalition, or every community. We publish what we can verify, label what we cannot, and correct what we get wrong. We believe that informed residents, working lawfully together, produce better public decisions than residents who are left without information.
The Mableton hub is the founding city hub. The architecture is designed for every Georgia community that needs the same kind of honest, source-linked civic infrastructure. If that includes your community, we want to hear from you.
General and coalition inquiries: unincorporatenow@gmail.com
Response time: We aim to acknowledge all messages within five business days. A volunteer editor, not an automated system, reads every message.
Language: English. Español coming. If you need to communicate in another language, note that in your message and we will do our best to connect you with a community volunteer.
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