Lawmakers call for Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission challenge end

(The Center Square) — A superior court judge has denied a request to prohibit the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission from moving forward with its work while a lawsuit challenging its authority proceeds.

Following Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker’s ruling, two leading Republican state lawmakers are calling on Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Sherry Boston, Towaliga Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jonathan Adams and Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jared Williams to drop their challenge.

Georgia lawmakers created the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission in 2023 with the passage of Senate Bill 92. Earlier this year, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 332, allowing the commission to adopt internal guidelines and rules and circumvent a state Supreme Court administrative order that found approving the commission’s standards of conduct was outside its authority.

“To continue this challenge is an injustice to crime victims in our communities as well as to Georgia taxpayers having to shoulder the expense of this frivolous case,” state Sen. John F. Kennedy, R-Macon, chairman of the Judicial Appropriations Subcommittee, said in a statement. “This is the second time these plaintiff-prosecutors have failed in court to block the law. Maybe it’s time to realize that they have a losing argument.”

State Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, joined in the call to abandon the challenge to the commission, which can investigate district attorneys and solicitors-general and potentially discipline, remove or force them to retire.

The case was initially filed in August 2023, and according to court records, the four prosecutors involved in the initial case agreed to dismiss it “without prejudice.” They filed a new lawsuit in April after Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed SB 332.

In a statement to The Center Square, Boston said the plaintiffs were disappointed in the ruling, saying the commission “can cause real harm to our justice system if left unchecked while our legal challenge is heard.”

“This decision was not about the merits of our case. We are committed to continuing our fight against this unconstitutional overreach by the State as our challenge makes its way through the courts,” Boston said. “As attorneys, we know the best way to settle legal issues is through the judicial system and we fully believe this issue is important enough that it should be decided by the state’s highest court.

“Last fall, the Georgia Supreme Court rightly questioned the constitutionality of the law and refused to approve rules for the PAQC, which meant the Commission could not operate. We dropped our lawsuit at that time but made it clear that we would refile if state lawmakers passed a new law to reactivate the Commission,” Boston added “A local prosecutor’s discretion is crucial to her ability to protect her community. It must be preserved. We will always stand against efforts to impede the work of experienced, locally elected law enforcement officials who are simply trying to serve their constituents.”