A bill creating an oversight board for Georgia district attorneys and solicitors general is now in the hands of Governor Kemp.
The Republican-backed Senate Bill 92 passed in the Georgia House of Representatives 97-77 over the objections of House Democrats who said the measure isn’t needed and is being driven by politics. The state Senate followed suit a few hours later, giving the bill final passage 32-24.
The panel would have the power to discipline or remove prosecutors on a variety of grounds including mental or physical incapacity, willful misconduct or failure to perform the duties of the office, conviction of a crime of moral turpitude, or conduct that brings the office into disrepute.
The house version of the bill was co-sponsored by Athens representative Houston Gaines.
The Senate bill was co sponsored by Athens Senator Bill Cowsert and many felt the measure was specifically aimed at Clarke and Oconee County DA Deborah Gonzalez and her unwillingness to prosecute certain cases and allegations of mismanagement.
