Lt. Gov. Burt Jones told state House Speaker Jon Burns that the arrest of Sen. Colton Moore during the governor’s State of the State speech was “an embarrassment for all of us.”

He was so right!

But its roots go way back.

David Ralston, an attorney from Blue Ridge who joined the House of Representatives in 2003, became speaker of the House in 2010. 

In February 2019, an investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB-TV found he had used “legislative leave” more than 1,000 times while speaker to put court cases on hold while he did work for the legislature. That work included campaigning for other Republican representatives.

The leaves meant some felony criminal cases were delayed for years, according to the AJC. That’s probably a good deal for a defendant out on bond, not so much for a crime victim waiting for justice.

At least 10 House members supported a bill urging Ralston to resign — including then-Rep. Colton Moore, who had been in office approximately one month when the legislative leave story broke.

Ralston did not resign in 2019. He disputed the number of delays, and he said they were unintentional. A committee that he created proposed a bill to let prosecutors and victims file opposition to legislator-lawyers’ requests for leave, and it quickly passed both chambers.

In November 2022, while still serving as speaker, Ralston died. House members chose Burns as his successor in January 2023.

During the legislative session of 2024, the General Assembly set aside time to honor Ralston for his service, including by naming a building for him on the University of North Georgia campus in Blue Ridge. Many of his colleagues, from both the House and the Senate, stood to say nice things about him — as one does at a memorial.

But not Moore.

Moore had left the House after one term to run for the state Senate, but he lost. Two years later he ran for the same Senate seat and won. He’d been in the Senate a little over a year when Ralston’s memorial was held.

Standing at the podium, Moore told the audience, including his legislative colleagues and members of Ralston’s family, “This body is about to perpetually memorialize one of the most corrupt Georgia leaders we’ll ever see in our lifetimes.”

Soon afterward, Burns banned Moore from the House floor for the insult to the House’s late speaker. He said he’d only remove the ban if Moore apologized to the House and to Ralston’s family.

On Thursday, Gov. Brian Kemp addressed a joint meeting of the state House and state Senate for the annual State of the State address in which he laid out his priorities for this year’s legislative session. It was held on the House floor. Moore tried to get in, but House officials stopped him because he’d been banned. There was a scuffle. State patrol troopers swept in and arrested Moore. He faces a misdemeanor charge of willful obstruction of law enforcement officers.

On Friday, Burns relented. He said Moore wanted to “cause a disturbance and gain notoriety in the press,” but he said he’d admit him for joint sessions even without an apology because the Ralston family had said they want the House to resume business as normal.

Ralston was never charged with an offense, let alone convicted. After the legislative leave story broke, his constituents had two opportunities to replace him — 2020 and 2022 — and they chose not to. While several colleagues spoke against him, many others supported him. Not only did the House never censure him, members continued to elect him to be speaker.

Moore’s comments, while rooted in a legitimate ethical concern, were over the top and inappropriate for the event at which he made them. 

Burns’ response, while fitting for daily business, was not appropriate for a joint session of the General Assembly. As a state senator, Moore had a right to attend the State of the State speech; it was part of his job.

Jones’ remark hit the nail on the head: This whole episode was an embarrassment for the House, for the Senate, for the Republican Party and for the state of Georgia.