Can the Georgia constitution be amended to affect specific counties or cities through local home rule?

• A. No; the constitution cannot target specific counties or cities.
• B. Only counties can be affected; cities cannot.
• C. Yes. Home rule gives local governments the power to write and amend their charters and to take actions not prohibited by the state.
• D. Only cities can be affected; counties cannot.

Answer: (C)

Local self-government in Georgia is enabled by home rule, which lets counties and cities govern themselves through locally adopted charters and ordinances, so long as those actions aren’t prohibited by the state. That means the constitution recognizes a framework where a locality can write and amend its own charter and run its affairs to fit local needs, rather than being entirely dictated by state law.

This makes the statement true: the Georgia constitution can be interpreted as allowing localities to shape their governance—creating charters, adjusting how they operate, and taking actions that align with their charter and with state limits. The key is that the authority comes from the local charter under the umbrella of state authorization, so actions must still fit within state constitutional and statutory constraints.

It isn’t about starting with a statewide amendment that targets a single place; rather, it’s about the local power to establish and modify its own rules under home rule. The other ideas miss that both counties and cities have this mechanism, and that the authority operates within a statewide framework.