CITY OF COLLEGE PARK v. CLAYTON COUNTY, 306 Ga. 301

Background

Dispute over allocation and collection of alcoholic beverage taxes at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, portions of which lie inside College Park and in unincorporated Clayton County.
City of College Park sued Clayton County and two vendor defendants seeking declaratory relief, injunctions, accounting, and related remedies, alleging County directed vendors to remit 50% of taxes and withheld City’s entitlement under OCGA § 3-8-1(e).
Trial court initially denied County’s motion on the pleadings, granted City partial summary judgment on declaratory claims, and ordered tax remittance rules between City and County.
This Court in Clayton County I vacated and remanded to decide whether sovereign immunity bars suits between political subdivisions of the same State.
On remand the trial court granted interpleader and then held the County entitled to sovereign immunity for all City claims except a takings claim; City added individual-capacity mandamus claims, which the trial court also found barred.
Supreme Court reverses in part: holds sovereign immunity does not bar this suit between City and County (political subdivisions), finds mandamus claims against officials in official capacity not barred, and vacates interpleader for consideration after threshold immunity determination.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether sovereign immunity bars suit between city and county	City: sovereign immunity should not bar suits between political subdivisions exercising home‑rule powers	County: sovereign immunity bars City's suit unless waived	Held: Sovereign immunity does not bar this suit between political subdivisions under these facts
Whether common-law/constitutional history supports immunity between subdivisions	City: history shows subdivisions could sue each other; immunity protects sovereign (the State), not subdivisions	County: relied on sovereign immunity principles and precedent that immunity can apply	Held: Historical common law and Georgia precedent show subdivisions traditionally could sue one another; immunity protects State sovereignty and thus is inapplicable here
Whether mandamus claims against county officials (official capacity) are barred by sovereign immunity	City: mandamus is authorized by OCGA § 9-6-20; statute waives immunity for such relief	County: immunity bars mandamus against officials	Held: Mandamus claims against officials in their official capacities are not barred (statutory waiver); trial court erred to the extent it dismissed such claims on immunity grounds
Whether trial court erred by granting interpleader before resolving immunity (jurisdictional)	City: sovereign immunity is jurisdictional and must be resolved first	County: proceeded with interpleader	Held: Immunity is a threshold jurisdictional issue; interpleader ruling vacated and must be revisited after immunity determination

Key Cases Cited

Clayton County v. City of College Park, 301 Ga. 653 (Ga. 2017) (prior appeal framing dispute and remand on sovereign immunity)
Lathrop v. Deal, 301 Ga. 408 (Ga. 2017) (historical overview of sovereign immunity's constitutional incorporation)
Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179 (Ga. 2019) (principle that constitutional text incorporating preexisting common-law rights is interpreted with reference to common law)
City of Union Point v. Greene County, 303 Ga. 449 (Ga. 2018) (analyzed waiver of sovereign immunity; distinguished here)
McConnell v. Dept. of Labor, 302 Ga. 18 (Ga. 2017) (sovereign immunity is jurisdictional and thus a threshold issue)
SJN Properties v. Fulton County Bd. of Assessors, 296 Ga. 793 (Ga. 2015) (statutory mandamus can effectuate a waiver of sovereign immunity for official‑capacity relief)
Ga. Dept. of Natural Resources v. Center for a Sustainable Coast, 294 Ga. 593 (Ga. 2014) (discussion of suing public officers in individual capacities and availability of relief)
Crowder v. Ga. Dept. of State Parks, 228 Ga. 436 (Ga. 1972) (describing sovereign immunity as part of Georgia common law adopted from England)