(The Center Square) – The Georgia House of Representatives passed a bill that would put taxpayers on the hook for legal fees of defendants whose cases were dismissed because the district attorney was disqualified.
Democrats said the bill was about the Fulton County case against President Donald Trump and others, which is moving through the court system. An appeals court disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case because of her personal relationship with the lead prosecutor in the case.
The decision is being appealed.
Senate Bill 244 would allow defendants to receive “reasonable costs” if the case was dismissed for prosecutorial misconduct.
Rep. Betsy Holland, D-Atlanta, said the bill would put Fulton County taxpayers on the hook in Trump’s case.
“It is punishing the local taxpayers for statewide political problems and has a chilling effect potentially on our district attorneys who maybe are no longer going to take the high profile or very sensitive cases for fear of the trickle-down effect of what it’s going to do for the taxpayers who elected them in the first place,” Holland said.
Republicans said the bill was not about the Trump case.
“There is absolutely nothing in this bill that focuses on a single county nor does it have a sunset for a single issue,” said Rep. Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta.
Lawmakers attached a provision that would set up a system to compensate Georgians who were imprisoned and later exonerated. It was first presented as a standalone bill by Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome. Two of the men mentioned in the bill are from Dempsey’s home county.
Rep. Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta, has also championed Dempsey’s bill.
“It does make me uncomfortable that this is not moving alone,” Dempsey said. “But I’m so invested that I can’t stop now.”
The bill passed 103-61 and moves back to the Senate to approve the House changes.
The House also greenlighted another bill Democrats said was presented because of Willis’ case against Trump.
Senate Bill 255 would codify the investigatory and subpoena powers of legislative committees. The Senate Special Committee on Investigations is in a back and forth with Willis over its subpoenas to her over her office’s indictment of Trump. The committee also agreed earlier this year to investigate former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and organizations once tied to her.
“You are opening up with all of this Trump vengeance, a machine, a can of something that I don’t think you understand how far it can go and how it can be weaponized,” said Rep. Tanya Miller, D-Atlanta.
Republicans tried to distance the bill from the Willis/Trump case.
“The bill does not expand the legislature’s power,” said House Minority Leader Chuck Efstration. “It affirms it and provides organization around it. What Senate Bill 255 adds is clarity, a defined process for how investigative powers can be exercised at the committee level.”
The bill passed 91-67.
