Until such time as the Newton County Board of Commissioners receives official word from the county attorney's office, the county's lawsuit against the city of Social Circle is still considered to be active.

Newton County Chairman Aaron Varner said it is his understanding the county has not yet dropped its lawsuit against Social Circle over the disputed annexation of 1,150 acres of Newton County land.

"At this point the Board of Commissioners are still viewing this as an active lawsuit," Varner said Thursday. "We have not been informed that the lawsuit is officially dropped."

In November, 2006, Social Circle annexed 1,150 acres, located on the north side of Interstate 20 between Ga. Highway 11 and U.S. Highway 278. The county filed its lawsuit a month later, alleging that the annexation should be declared void as it violated the annexation ordinances of Social Circle, the county and Georgia.

Earlier this month Social Circle announced it had repealed the annexation, citing a technical flaw in the boundary description of the annexed property as the reason.