Forsyth County proclaims Peace Officers Memorial Day, Building Safety Month

Forsyth County commissioners tied a solemn remembrance to an everyday safety concern on May 7, proclaiming May 15, 2026, as Peace Officers Memorial Day and May 2026 as Building Safety Month. The vote placed two familiar county priorities side by side: honoring officers who died in the line of duty and reminding residents that permits, inspections and code enforcement shape what gets built across the county.

The building-safety message carries extra weight in Forsyth, where the county says it remains one of the fastest growing in the country. U.S. Census Bureau estimates put the county’s population at 282,805 on July 1, 2025, up from 251,283 in the 2020 census, and the county recorded 2,525 building permits in 2024. That pace of growth is one reason Building & Licensing has leaned on digital plan submissions and inspection requests through its Customer Self Service portal.

County officials say the Inspection Division is responsible for conducting inspections and enforcing building codes, while Code Compliance says its mission is to provide safe, healthy and attractive living conditions through enforcement of county codes. For homeowners, builders and business owners, that means the day-to-day realities of construction in Forsyth still run through permits, inspections and code review, not just through proclamations on a meeting agenda.

Forsyth’s Building Safety Month observance also includes a public event. Building & Licensing planned Building Safety Kids Day for May 27, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Freedom Park campus, 2435 Freedom Parkway in Cumming. The county moved administration operations to that campus effective March 30, 2026, making it a central hub for residents who need county services as the region keeps expanding.

The county’s observance of Peace Officers Memorial Day connected local government to a national tribute first proclaimed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund says the week containing May 15 is National Police Week. In Forsyth, the board’s action reflected the county manager form of government at work: a five-member board elected by district to four-year terms, meeting twice a month on the first and third Thursdays, using proclamations to signal the public duties it wants residents to remember.