A nonpartisan group that supports Georgia prosecutors said a state law being used to seek attorney fees and costs in the dismissed Fulton County election interference case is likely unconstitutional.
In a Wednesday court filing, Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council, wrote that the law has “serious and potentially unconstitutional deficiencies,” including provisions he said deny county governments due process when defendants request reimbursement.
The law, passed by Georgia state legislators last year, provides that if a prosecutor is disqualified from a case because of their own improper conduct and the case is dismissed, anyone charged in that case can request “all reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred.” Skandalakis said the judge overseeing the case would review the request and award fees and costs, which would be paid from the prosecutor’s office budget.
Skandalakis said the law’s structure effectively leaves county governments responsible for costs that do not involve them, without legal recourse to contest that responsibility. He argued that this denies due process under both the U.S. and Georgia constitutions because county governments, he said, would face a money obligation despite being politically and practically separate from the elected district attorney.
The filing also addressed the scale of the fee requests. Skandalakis said Trump is seeking more than $6.2 million, and that the total sought by Trump and other people charged in the case is nearly $17 million.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis obtained an indictment against Trump and 18 others from a grand jury in August 2023, using Georgia’s anti-racketeering law to accuse them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia. Willis and her office were removed from the case after the Georgia Court of Appeals found an “appearance of impropriety” involving her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she chose to lead the case, Nathan Wade.
Skandalakis said he took over the case late last year and dismissed it in November. He also said the law is “probably unconstitutional” because it would require county governments to pay costs without a contestable process, and he argued that due process requires notice and an opportunity to be heard.
Skandalakis further contended that, under the law, disqualification must be due to improper conduct, and he argued there was no finding of improper conduct in the case. Instead, he said, the appeals court found an appearance of improper conduct, which he said would require the judge to treat an appearance as equivalent to a completed act—writing that the judge “must find an appearance is the same as a completed act.”
Skandalakis said the law does not define a reasonable hourly rate for attorneys. He wrote that hourly rates paid to attorneys who step in when a district attorney or the state attorney general has a conflict are $66.57 and $125, and he added that those rates “should be considered as part of what is reasonable.”
A spokesperson for Willis declined to comment on Skandalakis’ filing. Willis had previously asked the judge to allow her to be heard on claims for fees and costs filed in the case.
Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, said in an e-mailed statement that the law is constitutional and that Skandalakis’ contentions are “simply wrong.” Sadow said due process requires notice and an opportunity to be heard, but he argued the law treats the county government as a non-party entity subject to a money judgment it has no ability to contest.
The dispute over fees follows earlier rulings over conflicts in the prosecution. Defense attorneys sought Willis’ removal after one of them revealed in January 2024 that Willis had engaged in a romantic relationship with Wade. In March 2024, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee rebuked Willis, saying her actions showed a “tremendous lapse in judgment,” and while he did not find a conflict of interest that would disqualify her, he ruled she could remain if Wade resigned; Wade resigned hours later.
Defense attorneys appealed McAfee’s decision, and in December 2024 the Georgia Court of Appeals removed Willis, citing an “appearance of impropriety.” The Georgia Supreme Court declined to hear Willis’ appeal in September.