ATLANTA — President Donald Trump and his fellow defendants in the Fulton County election interference case could eventually receive reimbursement for attorney fees, under a bill that passed the Georgia Senate on Thursday night.

Senate Bill 244 would allow criminal defendants to recover the fees if they successfully argue that a prosecutor should be disqualified for misconduct and the case is dismissed. Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, said he had the Trump case— and the actions of Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis — in mind when he sponsored the bill.

Such a payout of Fulton County taxpayer dollars could be substantial. Lawyers for Trump and others in the case have together racked up millions of dollars of legal fees since a grand jury indicted the president and his allies for their efforts to subvert the 2020 election results in Georgia. Trump narrowly lost the race to Democrat Joe Biden.

In December, the Georgia Court of Appeals disqualified Willis from the election case because of a romantic relationship she had with a former top deputy in the case. Defendants said the relationship gave Willis a financial interest in prosecuting the case because of the compensation her boyfriend received.

Willis has denied wrongdoing and in January asked the Georgia Supreme Court to reinstate her on the election case. So far, the courts have rejected defendants’ requests to dismiss the case.

On Friday, Beach, a Trump supporter, said the defendants in the case deserve reimbursement of their attorneys’ fees and costs.

“There’s no reason those people should have been indicted,” Beach said. “They’ve had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars defending themselves.”

A spokesperson for Willis did not respond to a request for comment. News of the bill’s passage was first reported by The Associated Press.

Beach’s legislation cleared the Senate by a vote of 55 to 0. Minority Leader Harold Jones II said Friday he doesn’t think the legislation would apply to Willis, a fellow Democrat, and that members of his caucus voted for the bill for other reasons.

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Willis indicted Trump and 18 other defendants in 2023 for their roles in trying to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. Four defendants later pleaded guilty to various charges.

The case took a dramatic turn in January 2024, when defense attorneys disclosed evidence of a romantic relationship between Willis and her top deputy, Nathan Wade. Nine of the 15 remaining defendants — including Trump — asked Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to disqualify Willis and dismiss the case.

McAfee declined to disqualify Willis. But the Court of Appeals disagreed with his reasoning. Willis is waiting to hear whether the Georgia Supreme Court will hear her appeal.

Under SB 244, defendants could recover reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred while successfully arguing that a district attorney should be disqualified for misconduct. If a judge eventually dismisses the case, they could recover reasonable attorney fees and costs for the entire case. The money would be paid by the county in which the case was brought.

Beach said the bill would apply to the Trump case if the Supreme Court does not reinstate Willis. He said the defendants in the case could then petition the courts to recoup their costs.

Jones, the Democratic leader, isn’t so sure. He said the legislation would only allow defendants to recoup their costs in cases of prosecutorial misconduct, and he doesn’t believe Willis has committed misconduct as defined by the State Bar of Georgia.

Jones spoke in favor of the bill on the Senate floor Thursday. He cited a hypothetical case in which a young person is charged with marijuana possession and spends $10,000 to $15,000 on their defense. If the prosecutor were disqualified for misconduct and the case dismissed, Jones said the defendant could not recover their money under current law.

“If the case is dismissed because of a prosecutor’s wrongdoing, a person should be able to receive compensation for that,” Jones told senators.

Sen. Shawn Still, R-Norcross, a defendant in Willis’ election interference case, did not vote on SB 244.

If the case is dismissed and Trump recovers attorney fees, he’d receive far more than $15,000. Records show he has paid his top attorneys in the case about $2.7 million. The Georgia Republican Party also has paid at least $2 million in legal costs for some of the other defendants.

Steve Sadow, one of Trump’s attorneys, called SB 244 “a good start.”

“But a prosecuting attorney disqualified for misconduct should also be held individually responsible to pay the attorneys fees,” Sadow said. “That would be a targeted incentive to play by the rules.”

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Staff writers Tamar Hallerman and Greg Bluestein contributed to this report

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