In a state where the boundaries have barely budged for more than a century, a bold question has emerged: What would it take for Alabama to create a 68th county?

Alabama’s 67 counties have remained unchanged since 1903, a time when Theodore Roosevelt was president, and the New York Yankees were just beginning their storied franchise.

But in fast-growing Baldwin County, a question is being asked of state officials about the requirements for creating a split and potentially carving out a new county in South Baldwin that would include Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and Foley.

While no formal political movement is pushing for the change, state Sen. Chris Elliott has raised the question, prompting curiosity and frustration over longstanding disputes about taxes, schools, and funding.

“While an interesting academic adventure, I think the likelihood of this happening is slim,” Elliott said last week about the creation of a new county. He made it clear he wasn’t advocating for the split, but added, “However, a mere discussion of this should be a warning indicating the level of discourse associated with taking funding from some areas and not sharing with all areas.”

Sonny Brasfield, executive director with the Association of County Commissions of Alabama (ACCA), said he cannot recall a bill introduced in Montgomery to consider a new county since he started with the organization over 40 years ago. He has taken calls from frustrated lawmakers before on what it takes to create a new county.

“The couple of times we’ve had those calls, we go through (the process) of what it would take to create a new county,” Brasfield said. “That’s been the end of it.”

Brasfield said the call he received last week about creating a new county in South Baldwin County was the first he has gotten in about 25 years.

“We’ve never had a question about Baldwin before, to my knowledge,” he said.

Elliott said a question was forwarded to him from a constituent amid concerns over the ongoing battles between the beach cities and the county over the distribution of 1 percentage point of the county sales tax.

Elliott is sponsoring a bill that would allow the sales tax revenues to be split among the school districts, but he’s faced opposition from other state lawmakers who represent other areas of Baldwin County.

The concern has to do with the fate of the sales tax adopted in 1983, which provides revenues to the Baldwin County School System, but not to the newly formed city schools. Representatives with the city schools in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach want some of the revenue to support their districts, while Baldwin County Schools want to maintain the tax as it was originally crafted 42 years ago.

“I don’t think it’s likely, but it’s more indicative of the amount of friction, if you will, between the different areas of the county be it the county school system or the city schools,” Elliott said. “That’s just the level of discourse right now.”

Constitutional requirements

What would it take to form a new county? The Alabama Constitution spells it out: Support in Montgomery, the geographic size to make it happen, enough population in the two counties to support additional legislative representation, and a future county courthouse that is far removed from its former county.

The formation of a county can be done without a referendum.

The Alabama Constitution provides the Legislature with the ability to designate Alabama’s county boundaries – as well as creating a new county — with two-thirds of support in each house along with the signature of the governor. In the Alabama House that would mean 70 of the 105 lawmakers would need to support it. In the Senate, it would require 24 of the chamber’s 35 members to vote “Yes.”

The state constitution also requires that no new county can be less than 600 square miles, and no existing county can be reduced to 600 square miles. In theory that might not be an issue in Baldwin County, which at 1,600 square miles is the state’s largest county and is larger than Rhode Island.

“Baldwin County can be easily divided in half to reach that part of the requirement,” Brasfield said.

The Constitution also restricts a county from being formed unless it can contain a large enough population to “entitle it to one representative under the ratio of representation existing at the time of its formation.” The requirement also requires the county that is being split to have enough of a population to maintain separate representation.

Alabama’s Constitution, in other words, would prevent a similar situation that occurred in Nevada in 1987, when Bullfrog County was created by the state legislature despite having no inhabitants. The county was created in opposition to a nuclear waste site, and lasted for only two years, dissolving in 1989.

The Alabama Constitution also has one more requirement for a new county: The new county’s courthouse would have to be at least seven miles away of the old county line.

The last time Alabama created a new county was two years after the adoption of the 1901 Constitution. Houston County was carved out of Henry, Dale and Geneva counties in the Wiregrass region of southeastern Alabama.

Brasfield said a constitutional amendment had to be approved to create Houston County because Henry, Dale and Geneva were less than 600 square miles.

“It took a constitutional amendment because of the size issue,” Brasfield said. “In theory, a new county can be created by statute as long as you comply by the 600 square mile (requirement), and you can get the votes in the legislature, which is a different issue.”

Beach reaction

Gulf Shores city officials said on Friday they were unaware of the issue and declined comment.

Foley Mayor Ralph Hellmich said there have been no conversations about the matter, and believes they are likely driven on the disagreement over the sales tax distribution.

Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon said he was aware of the issue, and believed it was “just one of those things out of frustration” over the tax dispute.

Kennon said he has been frustrated by others in the county labeling the beach cities as “wealthy” and able to afford the operations of a city school system. Other lawmakers in the county have said it would be problematic to remove revenue from the Baldwin County School System, which oversees the rest of the schools throughout the county including in rural areas.

Gulf Shores began its city school system in 2020, following contentious negotiations with the Baldwin County School System over a split approved by city leaders in 2017. Orange Beach followed up with splitting away in 2022.

“I greatly understand why people would feel this way,” Kennon said. “We could put three-to-four cities together, they are economic machines and don’t need anyone else. There is merit to the idea, but whether it’s good for everyone, I don’t know.”

Orange Beach and Gulf Shores are building new schools and have ample revenue at a time when some lawmakers like Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, say the northern regions of the state struggle. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, for instance, are bolstered with hefty lodging tax revenues from hotel and vacation rental stays, benefitting from being the biggest tourism draw in Alabama.

Any talk about creating a new county comes as Orange Beach is also considering shrinking the city limits through a de-annexation.

Alabama beach town’s growth spurt leads to unprecedented action

Secession movement

The creation of new counties is rare in the U.S. The last one created was in 2001 in Colorado.

Discussions about creating new states through secession are more common, often stemming from political disputes surrounding large metropolitan areas or arguments from urban lawmakers that their cities generate enough money to go it alone.

According to Newsweek, secessionist campaigns were active in a dozen states, including all or parts of Oregon, Illinois, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Louisiana, California, Washington, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania.

In Illinois, 33 counties have held referendums to discuss seceding from the state largely over political disputes between heavily Democratic Chicago and the Republican counties south of the Windy City. Indiana state lawmakers recently advanced legislation that would create a commission of residents in both states to study the possibility of annexing the 33 counties into the Hoosier State.

New York has also long been the host of similar issues where fiscal grievances often are behind secessionist efforts in New York City. There have been considerations for decades over Long Island splitting from New York and becoming the 51st state, as proponents argue that there is a large population and enough financial ability for the metropolitan region to do so. But those efforts are always defeated by state officials.