A new Georgia law will remove party affiliations from the ballot for Cobb County's district attorney, tax commissioner, county clerk, school board and county commission races starting in 2028. Two metro Atlanta district attorneys have filed lawsuits calling the measure unconstitutional, and a Fulton County judge heard arguments on Sept. 18 but has not yet ruled, the Georgia Recorder reported.

Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 369 (HB 369) on May 12 after it passed the state Senate 32-21 and the House 93-64, both largely along party lines. The law applies only to counties that use a medical examiner instead of an elected coroner. Five counties fit that description: Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett. All five currently have Democratic district attorneys.

Sheriffs will remain partisan in every county.

Cobb County District Attorney Sonya F. Allen stood alongside three other DAs at a June 3 press conference in Atlanta's Liberty Plaza when DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced a lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court. Boston argued the law violates the Georgia Constitution's uniformity clause, which bars "special laws" that single out specific jurisdictions. The suit also raises equal protection claims and alleges the state Senate never properly approved the bill after voting down an earlier version.

"Republicans here at the state Capitol only want to take politics out of the equations in counties where they do not have a majority," Boston said at the June 3 press conference, as reported by WABE.

Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson filed a separate lawsuit on Aug. 28, first reported by Fox 5 Atlanta. A court date in that case has not been set.

The state filed a motion to dismiss Boston's lawsuit on July 20. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Cox heard arguments on Sept. 18 but has not issued a ruling.

At the hearing, senior assistant attorney general Elizabeth Young argued the law is not a "special law" because it would apply to any county that abolished its coroner's office and appointed a medical examiner. Cameron Roberts, Boston's attorney, countered that state law requires the legislature to pass local legislation for a county to make that switch, meaning counties cannot simply opt in. Roberts called the classification "irrational and arbitrary," noting the law also covers school boards, tax commissioners and county clerks.

Sen. Ed Setzler, an Acworth Republican who sponsored the original bill, told the Georgia Recorder he would be open to extending nonpartisan elections to the state's remaining counties. But he said the five metro Atlanta counties are different. "People who spend their lives in those counties come from across the political spectrum," Setzler said. "Let's just hit the reset button on partisanship, and let's let them be nonpartisan."

Cobb County Chairwoman Lisa Cupid expressed "strong opposition" to the law after Kemp signed it, according to CBS News Atlanta. The District Attorneys' Association of Georgia voted unanimously against similar legislation earlier in the 2026 session, arguing that DAs are state judicial officers whose partisan status can only be changed by constitutional amendment.

Beyond removing party labels, the law shifts county commission and school board elections to the lower-turnout May primary. DA races would still be held in November but without a partisan primary.

No ruling date or next hearing has been announced in either lawsuit. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2028.