Georgia legislators are eyeing changing an outdated law that hinders local prosecutors and pouring additional resources into a judicial system that attorneys and judges say needs increased investment to clear a backlog of court cases across the state.
Georgia prosecutors and judges are urging lawmakers to provide more competitive pay in the judicial system in order to better retain experienced attorneys and judges who can move cases along.
At a meeting held on Dec. 14, the majority of members of the state Senate public safety subcommittee said they would examine ways to change a state law that dates back at least to the early 1980s and limits some districts from deploying prosecutors to wade through the caseload.
The decades-old state formula limits the state to paying for one assistant district attorney for every judge budgeted within a judicial circuit, said Peter Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia.
As Georgia grew rapidly and resources began to divide between rural and urban communities, that formula has slowed the resolution of cases.