LISTEN: DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announces a legal challenge to House Bill 369, which requires certain metro Atlanta counties to hold nonpartisan elections for some offices. GPB's Sarah Kallis has more.
A group of district attorneys affected by a controversial new law announced a legal challenge to it Wednesday.
The law, passed by the state Legislature this year, would make district attorney elections in five metro Atlanta counties nonpartisan.
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston is the only named plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in Fulton County Superior Court. She says the law is unconstitutional and treats metro Atlanta counties unfairly.
"The legislature did not give any legitimate reason for treating our counties, our elected officials, our voters different from the rest of the state's 154 counties," she said.
Several other local elected positions are also impacted by the law, which only applies to Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Gwinnett, and Cobb counties. The district attorneys in all of those counties are Black women and Democrats.
If it is not struck down, the law will take effect in 2028. A spokesperson for Gov. Brian Kemp declined to comment on the lawsuit, and said the governor's office does not comment on pending litigation.
