(Lawrenceville, Ga., May 15, 2025) – Senate Bill 138, legislation dictating the transition of services between Gwinnett County and the newly created city of Mulberry, became law today. Gwinnett County officials have voiced strong opposition to the bill’s unconstitutional, unprecedented and unworkable mandates that will impose an administrative compliance burden as well as a financial burden on all Gwinnett taxpayers, including those who live in the city of Mulberry.

SB 138 was introduced by the state senator who represents the area of Gwinnett County that includes the city of Mulberry following Gwinnett County’s legal challenge to the constitutionality of the law that originally established the city, Senate Bill 333. Although characterized as general legislation, SB 138 applies only to Gwinnett County and the city of Mulberry.

Gwinnett County Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson said, “I am committed to building a stronger, more prosperous future for all residents of Gwinnett County. This commitment includes a responsibility to ensure that all of Gwinnett County’s residents and taxpayers, including those who live in Mulberry, are not unfairly burdened with costly, unworkable mandates.

"Further, this new law potentially removes the benefit of sovereign immunity from all Gwinnett County taxpayers, setting a dangerous precedent for other counties across the state of Georgia. This provision, among others, prompted our peers at ACCG to oppose Senate Bill 138."

Gwinnett County has raised four key concerns about the new state law, ranging from loss of legal protections to unfairly burdening all residents with the cost of providing certain services within the city of Mulberry.

Loss of sovereign immunity

The new law threatens Gwinnett County with the loss of sovereign immunity for one year should the County be found by a court to not be in compliance with the unconstitutional provisions of this law, exposing the County to unlimited legal liability. Sovereign immunity is an important protection from lawsuits that protects every county, as well as the State itself, and their respective taxpayers from incalculable liability. The new law also exposes all Gwinnett County employees, including our vital law enforcement and first responders, to the loss of immunity in all legal matters for one year. This will likely lead to much higher costs to provide county services and higher taxes for all Gwinnett taxpayers.

Unfunded stormwater mandates

Despite Mulberry’s charter requiring the city to manage its own stormwater systems, SB 138 mandates that Gwinnett County permanently maintain dams and certain detention ponds within Mulberry at no cost to city residents. This creates a permanent, expensive subsidy funded by residents outside of Mulberry who must continue to pay for costly stormwater infrastructure within the city.

Unequal police funding obligations

The bill requires Gwinnett County to refund Mulberry for police service costs if tax revenue collected for police services exceeds certain limited costs, which are not reflective of the true costs to provide these services. This forces residents in other areas of Gwinnett County, who will continue to pay all such costs, to subsidize law enforcement in the city of Mulberry.

Elimination of election cost reimbursement

Contrary to the city’s original charter, SB 138 eliminates the requirement for Mulberry to reimburse Gwinnett County for the costs of the cityhood referendum and the initial city council election — again shifting this financial responsibility to all Gwinnett County taxpayers.

Mulberry transition timeline

• May 2024: Cityhood referendum narrowly passes with just over 4,500 votes in favor out of 24,581 registered voters.
• July 2024: Governor appoints city transition team.
• October 2024: Mulberry’s transition team issues a legal notice to take over certain services from Gwinnett County starting January 1, 2025.
• November 2024: Voters elect first city council.
• January 2025: Mulberry formally assumes services outlined in its legal notice. Gwinnett County issues public notice about services it can no longer provide and continues providing services not taken over by the city, including fire and police. City fails to submit promised intergovernmental agreement.
• February 2025: Gwinnett County offers a comprehensive service agreement, consistent with agreements with Gwinnett’s 16 other cities. No response received from Mulberry.
• March – April 2025: Gwinnett County, along with the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG), urges Governor to veto SB 138.
• May 2025: SB 138 becomes law.

Next steps

Gwinnett County remains steadfast in its commitment to equitable governance and the protection of all Gwinnett taxpayers and will pursue legal action to challenge the unconstitutional elements of SB 138.