The Daily Fuckup

Georgia’s new fee-shifting law is now part of the same election-case wreckage that helped create it. In a January 2026 court filing, Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, argued that the statute President Donald Trump is using to seek reimbursement from Fulton County is probably unconstitutional. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/7c2a1f71c8a695786284a535cdb4c111?utm_source=openai))

The law at issue is Senate Bill 244, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed on May 14, 2025. It says a criminal defendant may seek reasonable attorney’s fees and costs if the prosecuting attorney is disqualified for misconduct in connection with the case and the case is later dismissed. The governor’s 2025 signed-legislation page lists SB 244, and the bill text spells out the fee-recovery procedure and timing. ([gov.georgia.gov](https://gov.georgia.gov/document/2025-signed-legislation/sb-244/download?utm_source=openai))

Trump is seeking more than $6.2 million, and the total fee demand from him and other former defendants is close to $17 million, according to Skandalakis’ filing and related reporting. The filing does not decide that request. It asks the court to reject the statute’s use in this case by holding that the law runs into due process and other constitutional problems. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/7c2a1f71c8a695786284a535cdb4c111?utm_source=openai))

That leaves the reimbursement bid in a holding pattern. The court still has to decide whether SB 244 can be applied here, whether the defendants qualify under the statute, and whether any fee award is warranted at all. For now, the legal fight has shifted from the collapsed prosecution itself to the law Trump wants to use to collect from the county that paid for it. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/7c2a1f71c8a695786284a535cdb4c111?utm_source=openai))