# District Attorney of Philadelphia

The office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia is the largest prosecutor's office in the state of Pennsylvania and oversees a jurisdiction that includes more than 1.5 million citizens of both the city and county of Philadelphia. The current District Attorney of Philadelphia is Larry Krasner. The district attorney represents the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City & County of Philadelphia in all criminal and other prosecutions.
The district attorney is an elected office, and terms begin on the first Monday in January following the election. Prior to 1850, the functions of this office were performed by a deputy state attorney-general. An Act of 3 May 1850 P.L. 654 authorized the voters of each of Pennsylvania's counties to elect one person, of requisite legal background to serve as district attorney for a term of three years. The term was extended to four years under the State Constitution of 1874, Article 14.

## List of District Attorneys of Philadelphia

| District Attorney | Term | Political party |
| Horn R. Kneass | 1850–1851 | Republican |
| William B. Reed | 1851–1856 | Republican |
| William B. Mann | 1856–1868 | Republican (On November 3, 1856, Lewis C. Cassidy had been elected district attorney but his election was successfully contested by William B. Mann.) |
| Furman Sheppard | 1868–1869 | Republican |
| Charles Gibbons | 1869–1870 | Republican (On November 2, 1868, Furman Shepard was duly elected and sworn-in as District Attorney, however, Mr. Gibbons contested the election and the court declared him the victor, in 1870 the court realized a tabulation error and reappointed Furmand. |
| Furman Sheppard | 1870–1871 | Republican |
| William B. Mann | 1871–1875 | Republican |
| Furman Sheppard | 1875–1878 | Republican |
| Henry S. Hagert | 1878–1881 | Republican |
| George S. Graham | 1880–1899 | Republican (Elected Nov. 2, 1880, declined to be a candidate in 1899, later elected to the US House of Representatives in 1912) |
| P. Frederick Rothermel | 1899–1902 | Republican |
| John Weaver | 1902–1903 | Republican (Elected in 1901 and left office after being elected Mayor of Philadelphia in 1903.) |
| John C. Bell | 1903–1907 | Republican (Appointed in 1903 to fill term of John Weaver, reelected 1904, declined renomination) |
| Samuel P. Rotan | 1906–1926 | Republican (First elected in 1906) |
| Charles Edwin Fox | 1926–1928 | Republican (First Jewish DA in Philadelphia) |
| John Monaghan | 1928–1931 | Republican |
| Charles F. Kelley | 1931–1941 | Republican (died in office) |
| John H. Maurer | 1941–1952 | Republican |
| Richardson Dilworth | January 7, 1952 – January 2, 1956 | Democratic (elected Mayor of Philadelphia in 1955) |
| Victor H. Blanc | January 2, 1956 – January 8, 1962 | Democratic |
| James C. Crumlish, Jr. | January 8, 1962 – January 3, 1966 | Democratic (Appointed district attorney to finish out the four-year term of Victor Blanc, who had been named a judge, later a longtime Commonwealth Court Judge, himself.) |
| Arlen Specter | January 3, 1966 – January 7, 1974 | Republican (two four-year terms, lost his pursuit to a third term in 1973 general election.) |
| F. Emmett Fitzpatrick | January 7, 1974 – January 2, 1978 | Democratic (lost 1977 primary election to Ed Rendell) |
| Edward G. Rendell | January 2, 1978 – January 6, 1986 | Democratic (elected to two four-year terms) |
| Ronald D. Castille | January 6, 1986 – March 12, 1991 | Republican (elected two four-year terms, resigned his office for an unsuccessful campaign for Mayor of Philadelphia) |
| Lynne Abraham | May 15, 1991 – January 4, 2010 | Democratic (succeeded Ron Castille; elected to four four-year terms) |
| Seth Williams | January 4, 2010 – June 29, 2017 | Democratic |
| Kelley B. Hodge | July 24, 2017 – December 31, 2017 | Democratic (interim) |
| Larry Krasner | January 1, 2018 – present | Democratic (incumbent) |