The Georgia Supreme Court refused to accept the proposed rules for the state's new Prosecuting Attorneys Qualification Commission in a ruling made Wednesday, effectively pausing the Republican effort to provide oversight for the state's attorneys.
Georgia lawmakers passed SB 92 last year, creating the PAQC to provide oversight of elected district attorneys across the state, and it was signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp in May. While independent, the legislation requires the Georgia Supreme Court to accept the PAQC's draft standards and rules before the committee can enforce its decisions.
In its written ruling, the Georgia Supreme Court expressed "Grave doubts" about whether it has "The constitutional power to take any action on" accepting or declining PAQC's proposals, and instead declined to make any decision on the matter, indefinitely pausing the committee.
When Georgia State Senator Colton Moore began circulating a legislative petition calling for a special session to defund or impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her indictment of former President Donald Trump and his allies, Governor Brian Kemp called Moore's plan a "Grifter scam," while other Republican critics pointed to the PAQC as a realistic alternative.
Hatchett was among the eight Senate Republicans who filed an ethics complaint against Willis shortly after the PAQC started in October.
He was joined by Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch and six other Republican senators, and their complaint alleged that Willis harmed Georgia by choosing which cases to prosecute based on her political views.
At the time, Gooch told local media the PAQC "Complaint is just one of the tools at our disposal," and promised the Senate Republicans "Won't relent until" Willis "Feels the consequences of her misplaced priorities."
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