DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston is fighting a new state law that would strip party labels from ballots for her office and several other county positions affecting Dunwoody and Brookhaven voters.

A Fulton County judge heard arguments Friday, Sept. 18, on whether to dismiss Boston's lawsuit challenging House Bill 369, the law Gov. Brian Kemp signed May 12. The law would make elections for district attorney, county commissioner, tax commissioner, county clerk, solicitor general, school board and county surveyor nonpartisan in five metro Atlanta counties starting Jan. 1, 2028. DeKalb is one of the five, along with Clayton, Cobb, Fulton and Gwinnett.

Judge Thomas A. Cox has not yet ruled.

Boston filed the lawsuit June 3 in Fulton County Superior Court, arguing HB 369 violates Georgia's Uniformity Clause, which bars the legislature from passing "special laws" targeting specific counties. The suit also alleges equal protection violations under both the U.S. and Georgia constitutions and claims lawmakers improperly passed the bill after an earlier version failed a full Senate vote, according to a DeKalb County District Attorney's Office press release.

"This statute is clearly unconstitutional, and we believe it will be struck down," Boston said at a June 3 press conference announcing the lawsuit. "My goal is, is that if we're going to pass laws, we make it for 159 (counties), not just these five."

The law applies only to counties that have a medical examiner rather than an elected coroner. All five currently have Democratic district attorneys. Sheriffs would continue to run in partisan races statewide.

At the Friday, Sept. 18, hearing, senior assistant attorney general Elizabeth Young argued the law applies uniformly because any county that abolishes its coroner's office would fall under the same rules, the Georgia Recorder reported.

Boston's attorney, Cameron Roberts of Atlanta firm Caplan Cobb, pushed back. He argued state law requires lawmakers to pass local legislation for a county to switch from coroner to medical examiner, meaning counties cannot simply change their own classification. Roberts called the medical-examiner distinction "an irrational and arbitrary classification that has nothing to do with law enforcement."

The bill started as food truck legislation before being amended to include the nonpartisan elections language, according to WABE. It cleared the state Senate 32-21 and the House 93-64, largely along party lines.

Sen. Ed Setzler, the Acworth Republican who sponsored the original version, told the Georgia Recorder the law would let counties "reset" the impact of partisan politics on local races.

While HB 369 covers county commissioners generally, DeKalb County's CEO and commissioners are not affected because of how those offices are structured. But the law would change how Dunwoody and Brookhaven residents vote for district attorney, tax commissioner, county clerk, school board members and other offices. Nonpartisan elections are held during the state's May primary rather than the November general election.

Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson filed a separate lawsuit challenging HB 369 on Aug. 28. No court date has been set in that case.

Separately, DeKalb voters will see a related question on the Nov. 3 ballot: a proposed constitutional amendment requiring all probate court judges to be elected in nonpartisan races.