(CNN) Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed legislation Friday that would create an oversight commission with the power to remove local prosecutors and district attorneys from their jobs. The move was heavily criticized by Democrats, including a DA in the Atlanta area, who are seriously weighing charges related to former President Donald Trump’s actions in Georgia during the 2020 election.
Before the signing, Kemp’s office said the measure, known as SB 92, would create “an oversight mechanism for district attorneys and solicitors-general across Georgia to ensure accountability to uphold the constitution and the duties of the law.”
“As hardworking law enforcement officers routinely put their lives on the line to investigate, confront, and arrest criminal offenders, I will not stand idly by while being met with they will face resistance from rogue or incompetent prosecutors who refuse to uphold the law,” Kemp said in a press release after signing the bill. He added that the creation of the commission “will help to keep prosecutors who are driven by neutral politics rather than commitment to their responsibilities accountable and make our communities safer.”
The GOP-led state legislature passed the bill earlier this year, largely along party lines.
Democrats have expressed concerns that the commissioners could exercise undue authority to punish or fire local prosecutors unnecessarily.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who plans to announce this summer whether she will file charges against Trump or his allies for trying to overturn the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election , strongly opposed the legislation, warning that it would be “dangerous” to undo decisions made by voters.
In testimony before the Judiciary Committee of the Georgia Senate earlier this year, he also described the bill as racist and vindictive.
“This bill was never deemed needed until a historical thing happened in 2020. And let’s just talk about it and tell the truth,” Willis testified, saying that in 2020, Georgia moved from five minority attorneys in the district to 14. did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on Friday.
Republican lawmakers did not specifically target Willis in the new law.
Under the new law, the commission will consist of eight members. The five will sit on the investigative panel tasked with investigating “alleged conduct constituting grounds for discipline” and the other three will be part of the hearing panel that will adjudicate cases and issue “disciplinary and incapacity orders.”
The new commission will meet on July 1 and set rules and regulations no later than October 1. Under the law, the commission cannot receive complaints before October 1 and cannot receive complaints about misconduct that happened before. date unless it involves “a continuing pattern of conduct that continues beyond that date.”
CNN’s Shawna Mizelle contributed to this report.
