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It has been just over a year since the local government bodies voted in favor of the Safer Human Medicine primate facility, with the project having since become involved in multiple legal battles. On December 31, District Attorney Joe Mulholland filed a motion to intervene in one of those cases, that being the suit filed against the Bainbridge-Decatur County Industrial Development Authority by SHM. In this lawsuit, SHM seeks to enforce the previous project agreements made with the IDA.

In the motion to intervene, Mulholland lists four arguments for the state to intervene. The first argument pertains to the Georgia Open Meetings Act, which the motion states that the project agreements are required to follow. “It is undisputed that at least some of the Public Parties have admitted they did not adopt the Agreement pursuant to the Open Meetings Act,” the document states, referring to the Decatur County Commissioners and County Board of Tax Assessors. The motion argues that these parties were not included as defendants in this case “ to hide these admissions from the Court.”

The second major argument Mulholland puts forth in this motion is that the lawsuit is collusive. “SHM and the Authority have schemed to secure a favorable order from this Court so that the Authority can in essence shrug its shoulders and say that it had no choice but to move forward with Project Liberty,” the document reads. It contends that if this were not a collusive case, “the Authority would have already advised the Court that multiple Public Parties had already admitted to violations of the Open Meetings Act, which is an express requirement for enforceability”.

The motion further raises arguments regarding the Project Liberty bond validation proceedings.

A spokesperson for Safer Human Medicine has responded to the motion, stating, “The Georgia Court of Appeals’ decision was very clear about Georgia law and the economic development process. SHM will continue defending its rights in state and federal court to ensure this project moves forward.” The statement continued, “Together with the Development Authority, we look forward to advancing this project transparently, providing good jobs, and ensuring high-quality operations. Our company and Bainbridge will be critical in supporting American medical research to develop new life-saving medicines that benefit us all.”

The Post-Searchlight reached out to the Industrial Development Authority, which declined to comment on the motion.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has also weighed in on this motion. “District attorney for the South Georgia Judicial Circuit Joseph Mulholland has a finely-tuned deception detector and the guts to act on it,” PETA primate scientist Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel said in a statement. “PETA applauds his just-filed motion to intervene to protect the public from a disastrous and unlawfully approved colossal monkey warehouse that residents vehemently oppose.”