Paulding County DA suspended by Georgia governor
By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published
(Paulding County Sheriff's Office)
PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. - Paulding County District Attorney Donald Richard "Dick" Donovan was suspended on Wednesday, two days after he turned himself into authorities on four felony charges including bribery and making false statements. Donovan was indicted last week by a grand jury.
Gov. Brian Kemp issued the executive order on Wednesday removing Donovan from office until his pending charges are adjudicated. Donovan had already voluntarily stepped aside following his indictment last week, but the order made it official.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said Donovan sought to drop criminal charges against a client of the Cedartown Municipal Court prosecutor to curry favor to have charges dropped for one of his employees with whom he said he desired a sexual relationship. Carr said the dropping of those criminal charges was a bribe.