• Senate Bill 244 allows defendants to recover attorney fees when prosecutors are disqualified for improper conduct
• Legal bills for Trump and other defendants estimated well above ten million dollars since indictment
• Fulton County taxpayers may face substantial financial liability under new state law signed earlier this year

ATLANTA, GA (TDR) — President Donald Trump and his onetime co-defendants in the dismissed Georgia election interference case are preparing lawsuits to recover millions of dollars in legal fees under a state law passed earlier this year that allows defendants to seek reimbursement when prosecutors are disqualified for misconduct.

Trump’s lead attorney Steve Sadow confirmed plans to pursue Georgia attorney fees recovery under the new statute. Sadow told Atlanta-based WSB-TV that the legal team will be moving for attorney fees and costs under Georgia code now that Trump has won his case. Robert Cheeley’s attorney Chris Anulewicz described the prosecution as a long and expensive ordeal, confirming his intention to seek legal fee recovery for his client as well.

New Law Enables Attorney Fees Recovery

Senate Bill 244, signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp in May 2025, provides reasonable costs and attorney fees to defendants in criminal cases if the prosecuting attorney is disqualified due to improper conduct. The legislation passed the Georgia Senate unanimously in March and was widely viewed as a response to the Fulton County case against Trump and his allies.

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The law requires that fees and costs be paid from the treasury of the county in which the criminal case was brought. Defendants have forty-five days from the date of dismissal to file motions detailing reasonable attorney fees and costs that Fulton County should pay. Judge Scott McAfee, who dismissed the case on November 26, will ultimately determine what constitutes reasonable reimbursement.

“This has been a long ordeal,” Anulewicz told reporters Wednesday. “It’s been an expensive ordeal, and he was very relieved and grateful about the non-prosecution that came about today.”

State Senator Brandon Beach, an Alpharetta Republican and staunch Trump ally who sponsored the bill, said he had the Trump case and the actions of Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis in mind when drafting the legislation. Beach, who was recently appointed by Trump to serve as United States Treasurer, argued that defendants in the case deserve reimbursement because they should never have been indicted.

Multimillion Dollar Legal Bills Mount

Trump alone has spent upward of five point five million dollars on Georgia-based attorneys who worked on the case, according to campaign finance filings from his political action committees. Trump’s Save America PAC paid Sadow more than one point five million dollars since his August 2023 hiring. The president’s former lawyer Drew Findling received nearly one point five million dollars, while attorney Jennifer Little was paid more than two point two million dollars in legal consulting fees between March 2021 and August 2024.

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The Georgia Republican Party spent approximately two point three million dollars defending three party leaders who were indicted for their roles casting Electoral College votes for Trump in December 2020. Party Chairman Josh McKoon confirmed these expenditures could also be eligible for reimbursement. Legal bills for Trump and the other defendants are likely well above ten million dollars combined, according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting, though exact figures remain unavailable.

Case Collapse Following Willis Disqualification

The sweeping racketeering case charged Trump and eighteen others in August 2023 with alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis led the investigation beginning in 2021, but was disqualified from the case in December 2024 after a Georgia Court of Appeals found her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created a significant appearance of impropriety.

Peter Skandalakis, director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia, took over the case in November but moved to dismiss it on November 26. Skandalakis wrote that continuing the litigation would neither serve Georgia citizens nor fulfill statutory obligations. He concluded the overarching theory of the case was not a viable basis for prosecution and noted that alleged criminal conduct should have been pursued federally rather than at the state level.

Taxpayer Impact and Legal Precedent

Fulton County taxpayers may face tens of millions of dollars in potential liability for legal fee reimbursements. While legal fees are commonly covered by the losing side in civil cases, there is little precedent in Georgia criminal proceedings for such substantial attorney fee awards. Willis’s office is mostly funded by county government, though it receives some money from state and federal sources.

Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones II, an Augusta Democrat, supported the bill and suggested it could have broader implications beyond Trump’s case. Jones argued that any defendant whose case is dismissed because of prosecutor wrongdoing should be entitled to compensation, from high-profile defendants to those facing minor charges like marijuana possession.

Will Fulton County taxpayers ultimately pay tens of millions in legal fees for a prosecution that never reached trial?

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