State lawmakers in Georgia advanced legislation to authorize a state commission to review complaints and discipline prosecutors and solicitors general in the Peach State.
The state House passed Senate Bill 332 on Tuesday, 97-73, nearly a month after the state Senate passed the legislation, 29-22, meaning the bill is headed for Gov. Brian Kemp‘s (R-GA) desk.
The legislation builds off of a law enacted in 2023, which created the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, and will allow the commission’s rules to be created without the state Supreme Court’s approval, as was previously necessary. The state Supreme Court had reservations about the commission’s ability to regulate district attorneys and solicitors general and refused to approve the rules for the commission.
“Once this bill’s passed, this commission will be able to begin its real work, which is bringing accountability to those rogue prosecuting attorneys who abuse their office, sexually harass their employees, and do not show up for work,” Republican state Sen. Joseph Gullett said about the bill on Tuesday.
The law would allow the commission to begin work on reviewing claims made against various prosecutors as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s conduct with a special prosecutor she hired is under scrutiny. The accusations about Willis’s relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade come as she is prosecuting former President Donald Trump and others for alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Democrats are skeptical of the commission, attempting to tie the legislation to alleged efforts to undermine Willis’s prosecution of Trump.
“Voting for this bill is voting to allow unelected partisan agents to oversee and obstruct decisions handed down by district attorneys that were duly elected by Georgia voters,” Democratic state Rep. Sam Park said, according to WSB-TV.
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Republicans have insisted the efforts are not related to Willis and offered different examples of alleged misconduct by other district attorneys within the state.
On Wednesday, the state Senate’s special committee examining allegations of misuse of state funds by Willis will call its first witness to testify.
