Atkinson County was created by an act of the Georgia legislature in 1917 from lands previously in Clinch and Coffee Counties, and the county was organized on Jan. 1, 1918. Its first officers were J.W. Roberts, Ordinary; Wiley M. Sumner, Clerk Superior Court; E.D. Leggett, Sheriff; and Charles E. Stewart, Representative in the legislature. Members of the first Board of Commissioners, created in 1919, were Jeff Kirkland, David Weathers, and J.M. Roberts Sr. The first Clerk to the Commissioners and County Attorney was L.A. Hargreaves.