(The Center Square) – A Georgia bill that will allow defendants to receive “reasonable costs” if their case was dismissed for prosecutorial misconduct received Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature.
Democrats criticized the bill sponsored by former Sen. Brandon Beach and said it was done at the behest of President Donald Trump, who is facing charges in Fulton County with other defendants related to the 2020 election. Beach resigned from the state Senate earlier this month after Trump nominated him to serve as U.S. treasurer.
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. That decision is being appealed.
Rep. Betsy Holland, D-Atlanta, is one of several lawmakers who 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 denied that the bill was 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, who presented the bill in the Senate.
That provision of the bill became effective with Kemp’s signature.
Senate Bill 244 also included 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.
The bill would give the individuals $75,000 for every year they were incarcerated. Death row inmates will receive an additional $25,000 per year.
