Greene County, Georgia



Greene County is a county located in the east central portion & the Lake country region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,915. The county seat is Greensboro. The county was created on February 3, 1786, and is named for Nathanael Greene, an American Revolutionary War major general.

History
Greene County was formed on February 3, 1786, from land given by Washington County. It was named in honor of General Nathanael Greene, a hero of the American Revolutionary War.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 406 sqmi, of which 387 sqmi is land and 19 sqmi (4.6%) is water.

The majority of Greene County, west of a line between Woodville, Union Point, and White Plains, is located in the Upper Oconee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. The northern half of the remainder of the county is located in the Little River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin, while the southern half is located in the Upper Ogeechee River sub-basin of the Ogeechee River basin.

Major highways

 * I-20.svg Interstate 20
 * US 278.svg U.S. Route 278
 * Georgia 12.svg State Route 12
 * Georgia 15.svg State Route 15
 * Georgia 44.svg State Route 44
 * Georgia 77.svg State Route 77
 * State Route 402 (unsigned designation for I-20)

Adjacent counties

 * Oglethorpe County (north)
 * Taliaferro County (east)
 * Hancock County (southeast)
 * Putnam County (southwest)
 * Morgan County (west)
 * Oconee County (northwest)

National protected area

 * Oconee National Forest (part)

Cities

 * Greensboro
 * Union Point
 * White Plains
 * Woodville

Towns

 * Siloam

Unincorporated communities

 * Bairdstown

Other

 * Scull Shoals, an extinct town on the Oconee River.

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 18,915 people, 7,132 households, and 4,975 families residing in the county.

Education
The county supports the Greene County School Board, Lake Oconee Academy and Nathanael Greene Academy.

Role in passage of the Georgia Indigent Defense Act
In 2001, Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Benham convened a committee to investigate indigent defense in the state of Georgia. An avalanche of complaints about the state of public defense in Greene County, along with a number of lawsuits filed by Stephen Bright and the Southern Center for Human Rights, contributed to the formation of this commission. The commission discovered during its investigation that indigent defendants in Greene County were routinely pleaded guilty by judges without the presence of counsel and sometimes without even being present in court to make their pleas, violations of the Sixth Amendment. Excessive bail, e.g. $50,000 for loitering, was often set as well, a violation of the Eighth Amendment. After two years of investigation, the committee's recommendations led to the passage of the Georgia Indigent Defense Act.

Politics
Prior to 2000, the only time Greene County failed to back a Democratic Party candidate in a presidential election was in 1972, when Richard Nixon won every county in Georgia and all but 130 counties nationwide. From 2000 onward, it has been consistently Republican due to the growth of white residents moving to Reynolds Lake Oconee.