Amid Trump Probe, Georgia GOP Passes Prosecutor Oversight Bill

The Georgia State Capitol building in Atlanta, ornamented with gold leaf from Dahlonega, Ga. Mary Silver/The Epoch Times

The Senate of Georgia passed a bill last week that aims to toughen up oversight measures on the state’s prosecutors, after a special purpose grand jury counsel wrapped up investigations into alleged election interference by former President Donald Trump and his allies.

The bill, SB 92 (pdf), would create a Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, which would “have the power to discipline, remove, and cause involuntary retirement of appointed or elected district attorneys or solicitors-general.” The Republican-majority Senate passed the bill in a 32 to 24 vote on March 2.

Republicans introduced the bill in the House in February 2021 as HB 411. The House passed the bill by a 104 to 61 vote in March 2021. but it was held off in the Senate. It was revived in the Senate in March 2022.

The bill introduces several grounds for disciplining a state district attorney or solicitor general, including mental or physical incapacity, willful misconduct, willful and persistent failure to carry out his or her professional duties, the conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude, and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. Disciplinary measures include removal or involuntary retirement.

The bill would “protect the citizens of Georgia and clean up the criminal justice system where it needs to be cleaned up,” Georgia Republican Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Catula), the bill’s sponsor, said on the upper chamber’s floor on March 2.

“We have, in a community near our state university where somebody who’s an elected DA says they can choose—not based on evidence but based on how they feel and what their political leanings are—as to who they will prosecute,” Robertson added. “In order to solve this problem, there needs to be oversight.”

Meanwhile, the opposition party warned that the state might use the proposed commission to target prosecutors who differ politically.

“We’re going to use a commission like this, potentially, to harass or put the fire under prosecutors of a certain party in certain urban areas that don’t align with what state government wants,” said State Sen. Josh McLaurin (D-North Fulton) on Thursday.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Georgia Senate for comment.

The Peach state’s GOP lawmakers in the lower chamber are also working to pass House Bill 231 (pdf) to mirror the upper chamber’s oversight body, which, if passed into law, would create a Prosecuting Attorneys Oversight Commission in the House.

Context

The timing of this bill’s passing is significant because it closely trailed the completion of a special-purpose grand jury investigation of former President Donald Trump and his allies, which was initiated and largely run by District Attorney Fani T. Willis.

If passed, the bill would apply to Willis in its oversight measures, though it is unclear if or how lawmakers would approach Willis’s investigation.

A major focus of that investigation is a call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in January 2021, when Trump asked Raffensperger to investigate potential voter fraud in Georgia.

Critics of Trump have alleged that the call constituted an act of election interference. Trump has denied all allegations of wrongdoing on his part.

The grand jury, which was discharged in January, reportedly recommended indictments. In early February, the Fulton County Superior Court released a portion of the jury panel’s final report, which did not include the list of names to whom indictments were recommended.

Willis objected to the proposal of an oversight body in the state legislature, calling it “racist” in an interview with The New York Times last week.

The Epoch Times contacted Fulton County’s District Attorney’s office for comment. The DA’s office had not return calls by press time.

In an interview with The New York Times last week, Sen. Robertson said the bill was not related to the Trump probe but was instead a response to the 2021 corruption case of Mark Jones, former District Attorney of Muscogee, Georgia.

The Georgian GOP’s move is reflective of Republicans’ increasing scrutiny of the conduct of prosecutors across the nation, with some accusing prosecutors of wilful misconduct or negligence amid changes in the legal environment in recent years.

The most contentious of these clashes center on issues such as the alleged lack of enforcement of abortion laws following the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe vs. Wade, as well as the alleged refusals in prosecuting low-level crimes such as narcotics, retail theft, and prostitution arrest.

Some of these efforts include Republicans in Pennsylvania who attempted to impeach Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner (but later failed) for “Prosecution Declination,” and legislation introduced by GOPs in Indiana, South Carolina, and Texas to remove DAs who refuse to enforce abortion laws. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis removed a state attorney Andrew Warren last year for allegedly not following the rule of law.

Trump’s Response

Trump touted the Georgia GOP’s passing of this bill on Sunday.

“The Racist District Attorney in Atlanta, Fani T. Willis, one of the most dangerous and corrupt cities in the U.S., is now calling the Georgia Legislature, of course, RACIST, because they want to make it easier to remove and replace local rogue prosecutors who are incompetent, racist, or unable to properly do their job,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media company, on Sunday.

“This is a great development for Georgia, but also other parts of the Country. Congratulations to the Georgia Legislature for having the courage to act boldly, fairly, and fast!”