Fayette County (/ˈfeɪ.ət/FAY-ət) is acounty located in the north central portion of theU.S. state ofGeorgia. As of the2020 census, the population was 119,194, an increase from 106,567 in 2010.[2][1] Fayette County was established in 1821. Thecounty seat,Fayetteville, was established in 1823. Much of Fayette County is bordered on the east side by theFlint River.
Fayette County was organized in 1821 after the United States signed a treaty atIndian Springs, Georgia with theCreek people for cession of a large portion of their land. The county and its seat, Fayetteville, were both named in honor of the French aristocrat theMarquis de Lafayette, who aided GeneralGeorge Washington in the American Revolutionary War.
Since the late 20th century, Fayette County has been part of the Greater Atlanta Metropolitan Area. It is located south ofAtlanta, which is based in Fulton County. Fayette County is minutes fromHartsfield-Jackson International Airport. As a suburb of Atlanta, Fayette County has increased rapidly in population and development since the late 20th century, nearly doubling its population since 1990.
In the years followingWorld War II, the county developed suburban residential communities, with many workers commuting to Atlanta.Peachtree City was chartered in 1959. It was developed as the only planned community in the county and in the Southeast; it covers 16,000 acres.[4]
The county population has increased rapidly during the late twentieth century with the growth of Atlanta. It has also benefited from a reverse migration of African Americans to the South, as new residents are attracted to jobs and opportunities. Significant growth and development continues.
In 2002, Charles "Chuck" Floyd was appointed to the position of Chief Magistrate Judge of the county. In 2004 and 2008, he was elected to the position in his own right, thereby becoming the first African American ever elected to any office in the county.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 199 square miles (520 km2), of which 194 square miles (500 km2) is land and 5.0 square miles (13 km2) (2.5%) is water.[5]
TheFlint River passes through the county and provided the earliest route for transportation and shipping of commodity crops. The entirety of Fayette County is located in the UpperFlint River sub-basin of theACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin).[6]
As of the2020 United States census, there were 119,194 people, 41,253 households, and 33,101 families residing in the county.
In 2010, the median income for a household in the county was $82,216 and the median income for a family was $92,976. Males had a median income of $68,381 versus $46,140 for females. The per capita income for the county was $35,076. About 3.4% of families and 4.7% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 6.1% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.[17]
In 2000, the median income for a household in the county was $71,227, and the median income for a family was $78,853 (these figures had risen to $79,498 and $89,873 respectively as of a 2007 estimate[18]). Males had a median income of $54,738 versus $33,333 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $29,464. About 2.00% of families and 2.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.80% of those under age 18 and 4.60% of those age 65 or over.
Fayette County's local government is led by a board of five county commissioners, known as the governing authority of Fayette County. Since March 2016, four seats are to be filled by election fromsingle-member districts and oneat-large from the county.[19]
Until 2013, the county was divided into three "county commission districts." Three of the members of the board of commissioners were required to live inside one of the designated districts. The remaining two commissioners could live anywhere in the county. All members of the county commission were elected "at-large," which meant that each candidate had to attract the majority of votes across the county in order to win.[20] Since 1982, more than 100 cases of such at-large voting systems in Georgia have been replaced by single-member districts.[19]
The five members of the school board were also elected at-large. In the early 21st century, Fayette County was one of only 20 school boards among 180 in the state of Georgia to maintain at-large voting to elect members of these boards.[20] The practical effect was the exclusion of African Americans from these positions. The county has been majority-white and majority-Republican since the late 20th century. Neither Republican nor Democratic African-American candidates had any electoral success.
In 2011 the NAACP and several African-American county residents filed suit against the county and the board for the at-large voting system. In May 2013, the federal district court ordered the county and school board to change their systems ofat-large voting, finding that it violated theVoting Rights Act of 1965 by diluting the voting power of the minority.[21] African Americans make up 20% of the county population but were unable to elect candidates of their choice, as every commission and school board seat required a majority of county voters. The county has a majority-white, majority-Republican population.[20]
Under the federal ruling, five districts were established so that members of both the school board and county commission are elected fromsingle-member districts. This broadened representation on the boards.[20][22] Voters of each district elect a commissioner living within its boundaries.
In 2014, Democrat Pota E. Coston was elected as the first black county commissioner in the 194-year history of the county.[23] Leonard Presberg was first appointed and then elected in his own right as the first Jewish member of the school board.[23]
The county and school board both appealed the federal district court ruling. In January 2015, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta remanded the case to the district court for a bench trial by the federal district judge, ruling that Judge Timothy Batten Sr. had made a technical error in granting summary judgment in the case. It did not overturn his ruling to establish the single-member district system. The bench trial by Judge Batten would give the county an opportunity to present additional evidence to support its case.[24]
After Coston died in office, the Fayette Board of Elections voted to use at-large voting in a special election to replace her. The NAACP returned to court as it opposed using the former system. Judge Batten ruled that the county had to use the single-member district system established by his earlier ruling. In September 2015 Democrat Charles Rousseau was elected from District 5 to succeed Coston, becoming the second African American elected to the county commission. In October 2015 the Fayette Chamber of Commerce and two prominent white leaders urged the county to settle the nearly five-year lawsuit and accept district voting. Judge Batten ordered the two sides into mediation and postponed the bench trial. In January 2016 the Fayette County School Board voted unanimously to settle the lawsuit and accept district voting for election of its members.[21] The County Commission voted to settle by a 3–2 vote.
Together with theNAACP and black county plaintiffs, the county commission agreed in January 2016 to a system of electing four members from single-member districts and the fifth as an at-large member. A law implementing this change was signed by GovernorNathan Deal in March 2016.[19]
Fayette County has five incorporated municipalities within its borders; Fayetteville, Brooks, Woolsey, Tyrone and Peachtree City. Formerly, Inman was also a municipality, but gave up its charter years ago. In 2015, Fayetteville, a majority-white city, elected its first African-American mayor, Ed Johnson. In 2011, he had been the first African American elected to its city council and only the second African American elected to any office in the history of Fayette County.[22][25]Fayette is represented in the U.S. House by the3rd and13th congressional districts, and in the General Assembly by the 16th and 34th state senate and 63rd, 64th, 71st, 72nd and 73rd state house districts.
Fayette County has been a Republican stronghold since1980. In 1980 and1984, it was the most Republican county in the entire state. However, as the county's population has grown, the proportion of Republican voters has decreased significantly in recent elections. Republican presidential candidates' margins of victory have decreased from 31.2 percentage points forMitt Romney in2012, to 19.1 points forDonald Trump in2016, to 6.8 points for Trump in2020, to 3.1 points for Trump in2024.
Fayette County is served by theFayette County School System. The governing authority for the school system is known as the Fayette County Board of Education, a board of five elected persons. They hire a superintendent to manage daily operations of the schools.
Since a federal court ruling in 2013, resulting from the federal voting rights lawsuit described above, the five board members are each elected fromsingle-member districts.[20][23] In January 2016 after mediation, the school board voted unanimously to settle the lawsuit they had earlier appealed along with the county. The board acceptedsingle-member districts for election of board members.[21]
