Georgia CommonsSB 605: Prosecuting Attorneys; additional grounds for discipline of a district attorney or solicitor-general or for his or her removal or involuntary retirement from office; provide
Last action May 11, 2026 · Effective Date 2026-05-11
A Georgia Senate bill adds new grounds for disciplining, removing, or forcing the retirement of district attorneys and solicitors-general, covering victims' rights, public records, discovery, and professional conduct rules.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 15-18-32) lists reasons the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission can discipline, remove, or force the retirement of a district attorney or solicitor-general, such as incapacity, willful misconduct, or a conviction involving moral turpitude. This bill adds several new grounds tied to specific legal duties prosecutors are supposed to follow. Under the bill, a prosecutor could face discipline for failing to make reasonable efforts to comply with the Crime Victims' Bill of Rights, the state's open records law, criminal discovery rules, or the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct (particularly Rule 3.8 on prosecutors' special responsibilities). It also covers knowingly authorizing decisions based on improper factors described elsewhere in the law. The bill extends the existing rule that a prosecutor can be disciplined for letting an assistant prosecutor commit any of these violations. The changes take effect once the Governor signs the bill or it becomes law without a signature, and apply to disciplinary proceedings started on or after that date.
What the bill does
- Adds failure to make reasonable efforts to comply with the Crime Victims' Bill of Rights (Title 17, Chapter 17) as grounds for discipline or removal of a district attorney or solicitor-general.
- Adds failure to make reasonable efforts to comply with Georgia's open records law (Title 50, Chapter 18, Article 4) as a disciplinary ground.
- Adds failure to make reasonable efforts to comply with criminal discovery rules (Title 17, Chapter 16) as a disciplinary ground.
- Adds failure to make reasonable efforts to comply with the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, especially Rule 3.8 on prosecutors' special duties, as a disciplinary ground.
- Expands the rule holding a district attorney or solicitor-general responsible for knowingly permitting an assistant to commit any of these newly listed violations.
- Makes the changes effective upon the Governor's signature and applies them only to disciplinary proceedings started on or after that date.
Who it affects
Georgia's district attorneys and solicitors-general, their assistant prosecutors, and the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, which enforces these discipline and removal standards. Crime victims and criminal defendants are indirectly affected since several new grounds tie prosecutor conduct to victims' rights and discovery obligations.
Why it matters
By spelling out specific duties, like following victims' rights law, open records law, discovery rules, and professional conduct rules, as explicit grounds for discipline, the bill gives the oversight commission clearer authority to act against prosecutors who neglect these obligations, potentially changing how accountability cases against district attorneys and solicitors-general are brought.
Key provisions
- Section 1 revises subsection (h) of O.C.G.A. § 15-18-32 to add new paragraphs (7) through (11) listing specific compliance failures as grounds for discipline or removal.
- New paragraph (7) covers failure to make reasonable efforts to comply with the Crime Victims' Bill of Rights (Title 17, Chapter 17).
- New paragraph (8) covers failure to make reasonable efforts to comply with Georgia's open records law (Title 50, Chapter 18, Article 4).
- New paragraph (10) covers failure to make reasonable efforts to comply with criminal discovery procedures (Title 17, Chapter 16).
- New paragraph (11) covers failure to make reasonable efforts to comply with the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, citing Rule 3.8 on prosecutors' special responsibilities.
- The provision on assistant prosecutors is updated so a supervising prosecutor can be disciplined for knowingly permitting an assistant to violate any of paragraphs (1) through (11), up from (1) through (6).
- Section 2 sets the effective date as the date of the Governor's approval or the date the bill becomes law without approval, applying only to disciplinary proceedings started on or after that date.
From the bill
“Failure to make reasonable efforts to strictly comply with the 'Crime Victims' Bill of Rights' set forth in Chapter 17 of Title 17”
“Failure to make reasonable efforts to comply with the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of Georgia; specifically, but not limited to, Rule 3.8 related to special responsibilities of a prosecutor”
Status timeline
- Effective Date 2026-05-11
- Act 499
- Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
- Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
Show full history (17 actions)
- House First Readers (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Third Read (Senate)
- Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
- Senate Tabled (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Bill Cowsert (R, SD-046)
- Greg Dolezal (R, SD-027)
- Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
- Tyler Smith (R, HD-018)
Votes
- Senate voteMarch 6, 2026
34 yea, 18 nay (1 not voting, 2 absent)
- House voteMarch 27, 2026
156 yea, 7 nay (3 not voting, 10 absent)
Topics
- district attorneys
- prosecutor discipline
- crime victims' rights
- open records law
- criminal discovery