ATLANTA — Georgia district attorneys suing to overturn a new oversight commission have dropped their lawsuit filed in Fulton County Superior Court.

The Dec. 8 decision comes after the Georgia Supreme Court on Nov. 24 declined to approve the commission’s proposed standards and rules as authorized by lawmakers last year via Senate Bill 92.

SB 92 created the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission — appointed by top positions held by Republicans. The commission is authorized to investigate and potentially remove local prosecutors from office after a complaint process.

The lawsuit filed by Stone Mountain District Attorney Sherry Boston, Towaliga District Attorney Jonathan Adams, Augusta District Attorney Jared Williams, and Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady is part of a fight against a growing national trend of states threatening the independence of local prosecutors.

“SB 92 is not just an assault on prosecutors, it is an assault on our democracy,” Boston said. “This law is a direct threat to every Georgian who exercises their right to vote — their right to choose the person who they think best represents their values in the courtroom. SB 92 says to voters, if the state doesn’t like your choice, the state will choose for you.”

The new law states that prosecutors are required to “review every individual case for which probable cause for prosecution exists, and make a prosecutorial decision under the law based on the facts and circumstances of each individual case.”

However, prosecutors in the lawsuit said district attorneys and solicitors general have constitutionally protected discretion to carry out the priorities of their constituents and that the new law undermines the structure of the Georgia Constitution, which “entrusts local communities to choose their own district attorneys.”

The Republican-appointed commission was to create standards and conduct — with assistance from the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of the State of Georgia — and such “standards and rules shall be effective only upon review and adoption by the Supreme Court,” according to SB 92.

However, the Supreme Court, on Nov. 22, declined to adopt the standards and rules, citing concerns regarding the constitutional authority to do so.

“If district attorneys exercise judicial power, our regulation of the exercise of that power may well be within our inherent power as the head of the judicial branch,” the Court said. “But if district attorneys exercise only executive power, our regulation of the exercise of that power would likely be beyond the scope of our judicial power.”

Proponents of the new law said it is necessary to crack down on “soft on crime” prosecutors, while opponents have argued that the new law was created to unfairly target Democrat prosecutors like Fulton County DA Fani Willis — who is prosecuting former president Donald Trump on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges — and others who have vowed not prosecute abortion-related cases and misdemeanor drug cases.

Lawmakers will likely revive the commission during the 2024 legislative session by tweaking SB 92.

“This commission has been years in the making — and now it has its appointees and rules and regulations ready to go,” Rep. Houston Gaines (R-Athens) wrote in a text to the Associated Press. “As soon as the legislature can address this final issue from the court, rogue prosecutors will be held accountable.”