Georgia Supreme Court blocks Republican-backed prosecutors oversight board

The Georgia Supreme Court has put a pause on the implementation of a new oversight board for local prosecutors.

The oversight board was a creation of the General Assembly’s Republican majorities earlier this year. In a six-page ruling, the justices refused to review the rules and regulations for the Professional Attorneys Qualifications Commission, as mandated by Senate Bill 92, which was passed along party lines in March and signed by GOP Governor Brian Kemp in May.

The court expressed reservations about the constitutionality of adopting the standards and rules proposed by the commission, stating, “We have grave doubts that adopting the standards and rules would be within our constitutional power. Accordingly, we respectfully decline to take any action regarding the commission’s draft standards of conduct and rules for the commission’s governance.”

The oversight commission was established by the legislature to investigate complaints against local prosecutors and potentially discipline or remove them based on various grounds, such as mental or physical incapacity, willful misconduct, failure to perform duties, conviction of a crime of moral turpitude, or conduct bringing the office into disrepute.

Republicans presented the measure as a means to hold prosecutors accountable, particularly in Georgia cities led by Democrats, whom they accused of being hesitant to prosecute certain crimes, notably during the civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

Democrats in the legislature argued that the bill would empower an unelected commission to override the decisions of local voters in district attorney elections. The court’s decision comes ahead of a long holiday weekend, and there has been no immediate response from Republicans.

However, GOP leaders could potentially address the ruling by amending the law during the upcoming General Assembly session, removing the provision requiring the Georgia Supreme Court’s review of the commission’s rules.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit challenging the law, filed in Fulton County Superior Court in August by three Democratic district attorneys and one Republican district attorney, is still pending.