Another Cobb County Judge Invalidates Cobb Commission Maps

Cobb County Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill has become the latest Judge to invalidate the County Commission “Home Rule” maps adopted by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners by a 3-2 party-line vote in October 2022 holding that the County Commission did not have the authority to redistrict. Additionally, according to the Marietta Daily Journal, Hill “has ordered new elections for Posts 2 and 4 of the Board of Commissioners.”

In her ruling, Hill wrote, “The Court is persuaded that the resolution adopting the Home Rule Map was outside of the authority granted to the Cobb County Commission under the Home Rule Paragraph of the Georgia Constitution.”

Hill has become the second Cobb County Superior Court Judge to invalidate the Home Rule map, however, the previous decision by Judge Ann Harris was thrown out by the Georgia Supreme Court in May when they decided that the plaintiffs in the case did not have standing to bring the suit. The current suit has been brought by Alicia Adams. Adams qualified to run for the Commission Post 2 seat, currently occupied by Democrat Jerica Richardson, who did not seek re-election, but instead ran a primary challenge against Congresswoman Lucy McBath for the Sixth Congressional District. McBath won the primary against Richardson and several other challengers without a runoff.

The Cobb County Board of Elections disqualified Adams due to lack of residency. Adams lives in Post 2 according to the map passed by the General Assembly, but not in the Post according to the Home Rule map.

There is little doubt that Hill’s decision will be appealed by Cobb County.