Fayette County

District Attorney Bill McBroom has officially switched to the Republican

party.

The recent

move will not affect the operations of his office, which is responsible

for prosecuting criminal cases in Fayette's Superior Court. But for McBroom

the move is significant because he is abandoning the party under which

he was elected in 1996 and reelected in 2000.

"I ran

as a conservative Democrat," McBroom said. But many former Democratic

conservatives have joined the Republican party, he added.

"I believe

in the death penalty," McBroom said. "That's becoming a rarity

in the Democratic party."

McBroom has

tried eight death penalty cases in the Griffin Judicial Circuit since

he was originally appointed to the position in 1995. Juries returned death

verdicts in five of those cases.

McBroom's current

term expires Dec. 31, 2004.

The switch

has nothing to do with abandoning the Democrats in favor of the Republican

stronghold seen in the Fayette area, McBroom stated. He added that he

had been contemplating the switch "for a while."

"I merely

enforce the laws," McBroom said. "It's not like I'm a legislator

and making policy."

McBroom specifically

referred to two Democratic-led issues that illustrate his differences

with the party. One is a state law that allows evidence to be withheld

if there is an error on the application for the search warrant, despite

a federal case that allows judges to consider whether or not the warrant

was pursued "in good faith," McBroom said.

The other difference

McBroom cited was in the jury selection process. Currently, defendants

are allowed to strike more jurors than prosecutors are allowed to strike.

McBroom said he feels both sides should have an equal amount of jury strikes.