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On July 8, 1920, the General Assembly proposed a constitutional
amendment to create Seminole County (Ga. Laws 1920, p. 52). In
that year's general election, Georgia voters ratified the proposed
amendment on Nov. 2, 1920, which marks the official date of the
county's creation (although a state historical marker on the
courthouse grounds incorrectly cites the county's creation as
the day the legislative act proposing the constitutional amendment
was approved).
According to the 1920 constitutional amendment, Seminole County
was to be "laid out from the Counties of Decatur and Early."
However, specific language in the constitutional amendment actually
provided that the southern borders of Miller and Early counties
constituted Seminole County's northern border. Thus, Seminole
County was created entirely from Decatur County (see
map). Georgia's 156th county was named for the Seminole Indians,
who once lived in this area.
Why was Seminole County created by constitutional amendment
instead of an act of the General Assembly? In 1904, Georgia voters
had approved a constitutional amendment limiting the number of
counties in the state to 145. The next year, the General Assembly
created eight new counties, bringing the total number to 145
-- the constitutional limit. Nevertheless, there was continuing
pressure to create more counties. Beginning in 1906, lawmakers
got around the 145-county limitation by creating new counties
through constitutional amendments that were not subject to the
limitation. By 1924, Georgia had 161 counties -- 16 of which
had been created by constitutional amendment. On Jan. 1, 1932,
Milton and Campbell counties merged with Fulton, leaving 159
counties. In 1945, Georgia voters ratified a new constitution
-- one which provided an absolute limit of 159 counties, with
an additional provision (see
text) that no new country could be created except through
consolidation of existing counties.
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- 1915
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- 1952
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- 1955
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- 1970a
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- 1970b
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- 1999
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- 2001a
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- 2001b
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