A divided Cobb commission Tuesday struck down a controversial law that would have imposed new regulations aimed at preventing illegal immigrants from being hired to work on taxpayer projects.

The rule would have required most contractors to ask the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to inspect employment records, advise them on hiring practices and issue fines for illegal hires in serious cases. Cobb would have become one of the nation’s first counties to pass such an ordinance, but it failed 3-2.

Illegal immigration is an especially salient issue in Cobb, which in 2010 made national headlines when illegal immigrants were found to be working on the county’s new courthouse. Leaders have taken a series of steps, including signing up for the ICE program, to guard against illegal immigrants being hired again. Extending the program to contractors has long been discussed as the next phase.