Judge upholds law creating prosecutor oversight panel

A Fulton County Superior Court judge has upheld a Republican-backed committee dedicated to overseeing and disciplining “rogue” prosecutors, striking down a bipartisan challenge to the law from 2024.

The body, known as the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, was created in 2023 through a bill known as Senate Bill 92. It allows members of the commission to investigate and remove prosecutors who commit misconduct or who display “willful and persistent failure to carry out duties.”

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law in 2023 in the hopes that the commission would rein in “resistance from rogue or incompetent prosecutors who refuse to uphold the law.”

At the time, Democrats and other critics called the bill an overstep of lawmakers’ authority and an attempt to police elected prosecutors who choose not to prosecute low-level offenses. 

The law was challenged by a group of district attorneys, who argued that it infringed upon their freedom of speech. But in a Wednesday ruling, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker disagreed, arguing that district attorneys could only be disciplined based on their actions and official policies, not their speech.

“Any incidental effect on a district attorney’s public speech would be the result of a valid regulation of professional conduct, not a restriction on speech itself,” she wrote.

She also pointed out that the plaintiffs had not faced any disciplinary action as a result of the law, meaning any potential consequence imposed from the commission “remains entirely hypothetical, speculative, and contingent upon the happening of some future event.”

Attorney General Chris Carr, who helped defend the law in court, celebrated the judge’s ruling.

“When an elected prosecutor fails to do their job, crime goes up and victims are denied justice,” Carr said. “With this win, we have made clear that DAs who choose to ignore the law will not be immune from accountability.”

A spokesperson for DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston, who is one of the plaintiffs in the case, expressed disappointment in the outcome and said the county was still deciding whether or not to file an appeal.

“Although we disagree with the Superior Court’s order, we appreciate its consideration of our legal arguments challenging the constitutional structure of the PAQC and its current rules,” said Claire Simms Chaffins from the DeKalb County District Attorney’s office. “We are reviewing our appellate options with our legal counsel.”