Path to Remove Prosecutors Signed Into Law by Georgia Governor

Georgia will create a commission with the power to remove prosecutors who refuse to enforce certain crimes, under legislation signed into law Friday by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

The legislation passed the Georgia House and Senate along party line votes. Democrats and other critics have said the measure aims to strip power from locally elected officials who make prosecutorial decisions that reflect their communities, such as district attorneys refusing to prosecute marijuana crimes, pledges not to enforce abortion restrictions, investigations into whether former President Donald Trump interfered in the state’s 2020 election.

Republicans say the law will enhance public safety and rein in rogue prosecutors. Previous legislative proposals targeting Georgia’s district attorneys failed, but supporters have said changes made in this year’s bill add oversight to the position. They cite a need for the measure with district attorneys who chose which laws to prosecute, and recent cases of prosecutors being indicted on criminal charges.

The law is the latest escalation of tension between local district attorneys and GOP-led state legislatures nationwide, where Republican officials aim to rein in progressive-leaning prosecutors who say they’ll opt out of enforcing crimes such as personal possession of cannabis, low-level shoplifting, or abortion restrictions.

In Florida, a state attorney suspended for refusing to enforce anti-abortion laws has asked a federal appeals court to revive a lawsuit arguing Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) violated the elected Democratic prosecutor’s First Amendment rights.

Georgia’s new law (S.B. 92) establishes an eight-member oversight commission with “the power to discipline, remove, and cause involuntary retirement of appointed or elected district attorneys or solicitors-general.”

It also adds an explicit mandate for district attorneys to “review every individual case for which probable cause for prosecution exists, and make a prosecutorial decision available under the law based on the facts and circumstances of each individual case under oath of duty.”

It lists grounds for a prosecutor’s removal as mental or physical incapacity, “willful misconduct in office,” “willful and persistent failure” to carry out their duties, conviction of a crime involving “moral turpitude,” and “conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the office into disrepute.”

Any district attorney or solicitor general removed by the commission will be disqualified from being appointed or elected to a similar office anywhere in Georgia for 10 years. A prosecutor could appeal a disciplinary order from the commission to Georgia’s appellate courts.

The commission will begin accepting complaints Oct. 1.

The commission’s members will be attorneys appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, and Georgia’s legislative leaders. Five members will comprise an investigative panel, and three will form a hearing panel responsible for issuing disciplinary orders.