ATLANTA (AP) — Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill into law Friday creating a new commission empowered to discipline and remove wayward prosecutors, saying it will curb “far-left prosecutors” who are “making our communities less safe.”
Kemp made the remarks at the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office in Savannah, where he signed the measure establishing the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, which will launch July 1 and start accepting complaints Oct. 1.
“I am not going to stand idly by as rogue or incompetent prosecutors refuse to uphold the law,” Kemp said. “Today we are sending a message that we will not forfeit public safety for prosecutors to let criminals off the hook.”
The law parallels pushes to remove prosecutors in Florida, Indiana, Missouri and Pennsylvania, as well as broader disputes nationwide over how certain criminal offenses should be charged.
The efforts continue anti-crime campaigns that Republicans ran nationwide last year, accusing Democrats of coddling criminals and improperly refusing to prosecute whole categories of crimes, including marijuana possession.