Georgia lawmakers pitch statewide grand jury to investigate election violations

Three Georgia Senators are proposing a constitutional amendment that would allow a statewide grand jury to investigate election violations.

Senate Resolution 875 says the grand juries could investigate election violations from anywhere in the state. The chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia would appoint a Superior Court judge to oversee the grand jury. The attorney general would appoint a legal adviser, according to the bill.

Georgia voters would decide in November if the resolution becomes part of the state constitution.

"We have had this, I guess just a series of issues involving voting, different accusations, different prosecutions of different folks, even the apparently the federal government is involved at this point in some of these," said Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, during a Friday meeting of the Senate Special Committee on Investigations and a sponsor of the resolution. "It seems to me that an issue like that that has statewide impact might be best handled by the Attorney General's Office, who's elected by the entire state, rather than leaving that with various district attorneys."

Cowsert, chairman of the committee, is running for attorney general.

The statewide grand juries would consist of 13 to 23 people and convene for no more than 12 months, according to the bill.

The resolution's two other sponsors are Greg Dolezal of Cumming and Steve Gooch of Dahlonega, who are also on the Senate Special Committee on Investigation.

Cowsert did not specifically mention Fulton County, but the FBI seized boxes of ballots, tabulator tapes and other materials during a January raid. Fulton County officials are challenging the warrant and asking that the election records be returned to the county.

The Senate Special Committee on Investigations was established to investigate Fulton County's prosecution of President Donald Trump and 18 others for election interference. The case was dismissed in November.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testified before the committee. Nathan Wade, the lead prosecutor in the Trump case, was expected to testify on Feb. 13, but did not honor a subpoena. Willis was disqualified from prosecuting the election interference case after it was revealed she had a romantic relationship with Wade.

Cowsert, Dolezal and Gooch are also sponsoring a bill that adds additional grounds for a district attorney or assistant district attorney to be removed from office. They include failure to comply with Georgia code related to the inspection of public records and failure to "exercise impartiality in prosecutions."

SR875 and Senate Bill 605 were introduced on Wednesday and are not assigned to a committee.