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Richmond County elections director urges local code changes to match new state law
Summary
The Richmond County Board of Elections executive director told the Augusta Charter Review Committee that recent state legislation standardizing election governance requires several local-code edits, including compensation language that appears inconsistent with state law.
Travis Doss, executive director of the Richmond County Board of Elections, told the Augusta Charter Review Committee he reviewed the local code and found provisions that appear inconsistent with recent state law changes and recommended specific revisions.
Doss summarized the history and statutory changes: the local board of elections was established by local legislation in 1973; the board currently has five members (two appointed by each major party and a nonpartisan chair appointed by the county commission after receiving three names from the legislative delegation). He said Senate Bill 212 (enacted in 2024 and effective Jan. 1, 2025) standardized county boards of elections across Georgia and cited "Georgia code OCGA 20-1-240.1" as defining county board creation, composition and responsibilities (as stated in his presentation).
Doss said he reviewed the Augusta Richmond County Code, including Article 9 (section 189) and sections addressing compensation, and told the committee the compensation language in the local code appears inconsistent with current state law. He asked the committee, with assistance from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, to revise the compensation section to "read as follows" and offered sample language: "Compensation for the members of a board, employees of such board and the election supervisor shall be fixed by each board with the approval of the governing authority of the county. Such compensation shall be paid for from county funds." He said the remainder of the local code appears to align with state statute and the board's establishing legislation but recommended consulting Georgia Code 20-1-240.1 for any additional adjustments.
Doss described his background in local elections administration and offered to provide the committee with his materials and citations to support proposed changes. He also reminded committee members that early and advance voting is under way in the Beasley Room, encouraging them to visit in person.
Ending: The committee thanked Doss and asked for his materials; members said his participation will be useful as they consider charter and local-code edits to align with state law.
