--- title: SR 875. State-Wide Grand Juries; jurisdiction, powers, and duties; provide -CA collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sr875 cite_as: SR 875, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr875 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr875.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr875/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73712 date: 2026-03-06 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr874.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr876.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 697 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr875.md?full=1 bill_number: SR 875 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: resolution status_date: 2026-02-25 last_action: Senate Lost sponsors: - Bill Cowsert - Greg Dolezal - Steve Gooch text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SR875/2025 upstream_id: 2124831 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - election law - grand juries - constitutional amendment - Attorney General powers - voting crimes --- # SR 875. State-Wide Grand Juries; jurisdiction, powers, and duties; provide -CA ## Text Senate Resolution 875 By: Senators Cowsert of the 46th, Dolezal of the 27th and Gooch of the 51st A RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution so as to provide for state-wide grand juries; to provide for the jurisdiction, powers, and duties of state-wide grand juries; to authorize the General Assembly to provide by law for procedures for the summoning and empaneling of state-wide grand juries; to provide for a presiding judge; to provide that the Attorney General or his or her designee shall act as the legal adviser and prosecutor for such state-wide grand juries; to provide for the submission of this amendment for ratification or rejection; and for other purposes. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Article VI of the Constitution is amended by adding at the end thereof a new Section XI to read as follows: "SECTION XI. STATE-WIDE GRAND JURIES Paragraph I. State-wide grand juries. (a) State-wide grand juries shall be summoned and empaneled upon petition of the Attorney General to the Supreme Court under procedures provided by law. (b) A state-wide grand jury shall consist of not fewer than 13 nor more than 23 persons. The jurisdiction of a state-wide grand jury shall extend throughout the state, and it may investigate and return indictments for crimes committed anywhere within the state. The term of any such state-wide grand jury shall not exceed 12 months. (c) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall designate a superior court judge to act as presiding judge for each state-wide grand jury. Upon designation by the Chief Justice, the presiding judge shall summon and empanel a state-wide grand jury in accordance with procedures provided by law. (d) The Attorney General or his or her designee shall act as legal adviser to any state-wide grand jury. The Attorney General, in his or her discretion, may designate any member of his or her staff or any district attorney to provide legal advice, counsel, or assistance to a state-wide grand jury. (e) The subject matter jurisdiction of state-wide grand juries shall extend to the investigation and indictment of persons or legal entities for any crime involving voting, elections, or a violation of the election laws of this state and all related crimes. (f) It shall not be necessary for a proposed bill of indictment to be presented to a state-wide grand jury prior to its engaging in investigative activities. The attendance of witnesses and the production of documents at such investigations may be compelled by subpoena, signed by any official authorized by the state-wide grand jury to issue such process." SECTION 2. The above proposed amendment to the Constitution shall be published and submitted as provided in Article X, Section I, Paragraph II of the Constitution. The ballot submitting the above proposed amendment shall have written or printed thereon the following: "( ) YES Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide for state-wide grand juries which shall have the authority to investigate and indict for ( ) NO crimes involving voting, elections, and violations of election laws committed anywhere in the state?" All persons desiring to vote in favor of ratifying the proposed amendment shall vote "Yes." All persons desiring to vote against ratifying the proposed amendment shall vote "No." If such amendment shall be ratified as provided in said Paragraph of the Constitution, it shall become a part of the Constitution of this state. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia Senate resolution would ask voters to amend the state Constitution to create state-wide grand juries with power to investigate and indict election-related crimes committed anywhere in Georgia. ### Plain-language summary Currently, Georgia grand juries are organized county by county, which can complicate investigations into crimes that span multiple jurisdictions. This resolution proposes a constitutional amendment creating state-wide grand juries that could investigate and return indictments for crimes anywhere in the state, but only for crimes involving voting, elections, or violations of Georgia's election laws. Under the proposal, the Attorney General would petition the Supreme Court to summon a state-wide grand jury of 13 to 23 people, serving no more than 12 months. The Chief Justice would designate a superior court judge to preside, and the Attorney General or a designee (including staff or a district attorney) would serve as legal adviser and prosecutor. Grand juries could investigate before any indictment is proposed and could issue subpoenas. Because this is a constitutional amendment, it must be approved by voters in a statewide referendum before taking effect. ### What it does - Creates a new constitutional mechanism for state-wide grand juries that can investigate and indict crimes occurring anywhere in Georgia, not just within one county. - Limits the subject matter jurisdiction of these state-wide grand juries to crimes involving voting, elections, or violations of Georgia's election laws. - Requires the Attorney General to petition the Supreme Court to summon and empanel a state-wide grand jury, with the Chief Justice appointing a presiding superior court judge. - Designates the Attorney General or a designee, including staff members or a district attorney, as legal adviser and prosecutor for these grand juries. - Allows a state-wide grand jury to investigate and issue subpoenas before any indictment is formally proposed to it. - Sends the proposed constitutional amendment to Georgia voters for ratification or rejection in a statewide referendum. ### Who it affects Georgia voters, who would decide whether to ratify this constitutional change; the Attorney General's office and district attorneys, who would take on new roles in these proceedings; the Supreme Court and superior court judges, who would oversee empaneling; and anyone accused of election-related crimes in Georgia. ### Why it matters If ratified, election-related criminal investigations could be pursued across county lines by a single grand jury rather than being limited to local jurisdictions, potentially speeding up or centralizing prosecution of alleged voting and election crimes statewide, with the Attorney General playing a more direct prosecutorial role. ### Key provisions - Paragraph I(a) requires the Attorney General to petition the Supreme Court to summon and empanel state-wide grand juries under procedures the General Assembly would later establish by law. - Paragraph I(b) sets grand jury size at 13 to 23 members and limits each jury's term to no more than 12 months, with jurisdiction extending statewide. - Paragraph I(c) has the Chief Justice designate a superior court judge to preside over each state-wide grand jury. - Paragraph I(d) makes the Attorney General or a designee the legal adviser, allowing delegation to staff or a district attorney. - Paragraph I(e) restricts these grand juries' subject matter to crimes involving voting, elections, or violations of state election laws and related crimes. - Paragraph I(f) allows investigative activity, including subpoenas for witnesses and documents, before any indictment is formally presented. - Section 2 sets the ballot language voters would see and specifies the amendment becomes part of the Constitution only if ratified by voters. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2026-02-25) - Last action: Senate Lost (2026-03-06) - Sponsors: Bill Cowsert, Greg Dolezal, Steve Gooch - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73712 > The history, votes, and amendments (697 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr875.md?full=1