SB604: SB604 Crimes and Offenses; the Attorney General concurrent jurisdiction with district attorneys to conduct criminal prosecutions of violent crimes, illegal immigration offenses, and fentanyl offenses; provide

Currently, when a Georgia district attorney's office is disqualified from a case, the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council appoints a replacement, which could be another district attorney, a solicitor-general, a retired prosecutor, or an attorney from the Department of Law. This bill changes that process so the Attorney General (or an attorney from the Department of Law) gets first option to take the case before any other appointee is considered, except when a district attorney voluntarily recuses for one of the specific offenses listed in the bill. The bill also creates a new Georgia law, O.C.G.A. § 16-1-13, letting any district attorney ask the Attorney General for help prosecuting a defined list of serious crimes: murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, drug trafficking, offenses involving illegal aliens, and racketeering. The changes would take effect as soon as the Governor signs the bill and would apply to prosecutions started on or after that date.

• Gives the Attorney General or a Department of Law attorney first option to be appointed in place of a disqualified district attorney, ahead of other possible appointees.
• Creates an exception to that priority when a district attorney voluntarily recuses from a case involving one of the listed serious offenses.
• Adds a new Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 16-1-13) letting any district attorney request the Attorney General's assistance prosecuting murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, and rape.
• Extends that same request-for-assistance option to cases involving aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, and drug trafficking under O.C.G.A. § 16-13-31.
• Extends the option further to offenses involving illegal aliens and to racketeering influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO) charges.
• Sets the effective date as the day the Governor signs the bill, applying only to prosecutions started on or after that date.

Georgia district attorneys, the Attorney General's office and the Department of Law, the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of the State of Georgia, and defendants charged with murder, kidnapping, rape, sexual offenses, drug trafficking, immigration-related crimes, or racketeering, since those are the cases where the Attorney General could now step in.

District attorneys facing disqualification or heavy caseloads in serious cases like murder, trafficking, or racketeering would gain a direct path to bring in the Attorney General's office for extra prosecutorial resources or authority, changing who can control high-profile prosecutions across Georgia's counties.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 15-18-5(a) so that when a district attorney's office is disqualified, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council must first notify the Attorney General and offer the appointment before considering other attorneys.
• Section 1 carves out an exception: this priority does not apply when a district attorney voluntarily recuses from an offense listed in the new Code Section 16-1-13.
• Section 2 creates new Code Section 16-1-13, listing ten categories of offenses for which a district attorney may request the Attorney General's assistance, including murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, and specified sexual offenses.
• Section 2 also includes drug trafficking under O.C.G.A. § 16-13-31, offenses involving illegal aliens under Article 5 of Chapter 11, and RICO offenses under Chapter 14 among the offenses eligible for Attorney General assistance.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as the date of the Governor's approval or the date the bill becomes law without approval, applying to prosecutions initiated on or after that date.
• Section 4 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-19House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2026-03-10House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-09House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-03-06Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
5. 2026-03-06Senate Third Read (Senate)
6. 2026-03-06Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
7. 2026-03-06Senate Tabled (Senate)
8. 2026-03-04Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Bill Cowsert (R, SD-046)Primary sponsor
• Greg Dolezal (R, SD-027)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• Tyler Smith (R, HD-018)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2026

   47 yea, 2 nay (1 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #673

• criminal prosecution
• Attorney General authority
• district attorneys
• violent crime
• drug trafficking