ATLANTA – The Georgia Supreme Court Wednesday halted attempts to move forward with a new oversight board for local prosecutors the General Assembly’s Republican majorities created this year.
In a six-page ruling, the justices declined to review rules and regulations for the Professional Attorneys Qualifications Commission as required by Senate Bill 92, which lawmakers passed along party lines in March and GOP Gov. Brian Kemp signed in May.
“We have grave doubts that adopting the standards and rules would be within our constitutional power,” the court wrote. “Accordingly, we respectfully decline to take any action regarding the commission’s draft standards of conduct and rules for the commission’s governance.”
The legislature created the oversight commission to investigate complaints lodged against local prosecutors and potentially discipline or remove the target of a complaint on a variety of grounds including mental or physical incapacity, willful misconduct or failure to perform the duties of the office, conviction of a crime of moral turpitude, or conduct that brings the office into disrepute.
Republican legislators pushed the measure as a way to sanction prosecutors in Georgia cities led by Democrats who they said were reluctant to prosecute certain crimes, notably during the civil unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis by a white police officer in 2020.
Legislative Democrats countered that the bill would let an unelected commission usurp the will of local voters in elections of district attorneys.
There was no immediate response from Republicans to Wednesday’s ruling, which came on the afternoon before a long holiday weekend. But GOP legislative leaders could get around the decision by amending the law during this winter’s General Assembly session to remove the provision requiring the Georgia Supreme Court to review the commission’s rules.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit challenging the law filed in Fulton County Superior County in August by three Democratic district attorneys and one Republican D.A. remains pending.
ATLANTA – Legislation will be introduced soon in Congress to create Georgia’s first national park, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock said this week after touring the Ocmulgee Mounds in Macon, a prehistoric Native American site.
Ocmulgee Mounds was established as a national historical park during the 1930s to preserve an area occupied by various native cultures for thousands of years. The mounds were built during the Mississippi Period, which began around 900.
“Ocmulgee is not just an expanse of land,” Warnock said. “It is a living testament to our intertwined histories, and a source of economic and cultural vitality.”
Warnock’s tour came less than a week after the National Park Service sent a study to Congress concluding that the Muscogee Creek Nation’s historic homeland in Middle Georgia warrants protection. But the study also declared the area contemplated for a park, stretching for more than 50 miles, includes so much private property it wouldn’t be possible to acquire.
To get around that problem, the report recommended reducing the area to be preserved along the Ocmulgee River.
Warnock is working with Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and U.S. Reps. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, and Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, to craft legislation designating the Ocmulgee Mounds as a national park.
This week’s tour of the site was led by Tracie Revis, a citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp is assigning Georgia National Guard troops and other state resources to help with the “logistical challenges” associated with ceremonies and services to honor the late former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.
Kemp issued an executive order Tuesday activating the State Operations Center to coordinate the state assets that will assist next week in the final farewells and interment of Mrs. Carter, who died Sunday at her home in Plains. The order also calls on the Georgia Department of Defense to provide up to 50 National Guard troops.
Ceremonies celebrating the life of the former first lady of both Georgia and the United States will begin next Monday morning with a motorcade from Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus to the Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Services Complex at Georgia Southwestern State University, where wreaths will be laid.
The motorcade then will travel to The Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, where members of the public will be able to pay their respects from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. as Mrs. Carter lies in repose.
On Tuesday, the motorcade will travel to Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University for a tribute service with invited guests at 1 p.m.
On Wednesday, the funeral procession will arrive at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains for an 11 a.m. service for family and invited friends. The casket then will depart for a private interment at the Carter family residence.
Under a second executive order Kemp issued Tuesday, the U.S. and Georgia flags will be flown at half-staff at all state buildings and grounds from Monday through sunset on Wednesday.
ATLANTA – State energy regulators will vote in April on Georgia Power’s request for additional electrical generating capacity.
The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) approved a hearing schedule Tuesday that calls for a final vote April 16 on an updated Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) the Atlanta-based utility submitted late last month.
The PSC voted in July of last year in favor of a three-year IRP outlining the mix of energy sources Georgia Power intends to rely on for power generation during the next two decades.
But rather than wait the usual three years to submit its next IRP, Georgia Power is looking to the commission now to approve additional generating capacity to accommodate what the company called “extraordinary” economic growth.
The utility is asking for about 6,600 megawatts of electricity. A megawatt is enough electricity to power about 750 homes.
Specifically, the IRP update calls for:
construction of new solar resources to be co-located with battery energy storage systems.
expansion of Georgia Power’s battery energy storage capacity.
construction of three new gas combustion turbines at Plant Yates near Newnan.
certification of a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Mississippi Power, like Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Co.
certification of a PPA with Florida-based Santa Rosa Energy Center LLC for power from an existing natural gas-fired power plant.
the addition of new and expanded distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar, and demand response programs, in which customers voluntarily agree to reduce energy use during periods of peak demand.
Potential acquisition of an additional ownership interest in an “existing generation asset” within the Southern Co. footprint.
Environmental advocates who oppose the updated IRP are focusing on the proposed construction of new gas combustion turbines at Plant Yates. A lawyer for the Southern Environmental Law Center criticized the gas turbine project last month as “walking back the incremental steps” Georgia Power has taken to transition to clean energy.
Under the schedule the PSC adopted Tuesday, commissioners will hold hearings on the proposed IRP update Jan. 16-17, Feb. 29-March 1, and potentially on March 27-28. The commission’s Energy Committee will hear from all interested parties in the case April 11, ahead of the final vote April 16.
ATLANTA – The Technical College System of Georgia has launched a website to help link job seekers in Georgia with employers, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Tuesday.
The Labor Exchange Platform will provide access to job listings, educational and training resources, and career services.
“Georgia continues to meet the needs of both employees and job creators as we welcome the incredible job growth we’ve seen over the past several years,” Kemp said. “This innovative platform will help match members of our skilled workforce with opportunities for success in every corner of the state.”
Besides helping job seekers, the platform serves as a resource for employers by simplifying job postings, facilitating connections with qualified candidates, and providing labor market insights to help businesses navigate Georgia’s dynamic employment environment.
“The online platform plays a crucial role in aligning our workforce development efforts with the pace of our economic growth,” said Greg Dozier, commissioner of the state’s technical college system. “The Labor Exchange Platform is more than just a job site; it’s a bridge connecting Georgia’s talented workforce with the numerous opportunities arising across the state.”
The new platform can be found at www.worksourcegaportal.com.
