I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4009 

To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to establish the Office 

of the District Attorney for the District of Columbia, headed by a 

locally elected and independent District Attorney, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 3, 2009 

Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to establish the Office of the District Attorney for the District 

of Columbia, headed by a locally elected and independent 

District Attorney, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘District of Columbia 

5 District Attorney Establishment Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT AT2 TORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part F of title IV of the District 

4 of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1–204.91 et seq., D.C. 

5 Official Code) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new section: 

7 ‘‘OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT

8 OF COLUMBIA

9 ‘‘SEC. 497. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby 

10 established the Office of the District Attorney for the Dis11 trict of Columbia (hereafter in this section referred to as 

12 the ‘Office’), to be headed by the District Attorney for 

13 the District of Columbia (hereafter in this section referred 

14 to as the ‘District Attorney’). 

15 ‘‘(b) GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES.—The District 

16 Attorney shall be the chief legal officer for the District 

17 of Columbia, and in the performance of such duties 

18 shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) prosecute the local criminal laws of the 

20 District of Columbia, including violations committed 

21 by both adult and juvenile offenders, and perform 

22 any related functions as provided by local law in the 

23 District of Columbia; and 

24 ‘‘(2) have the authority to perform civil enforce25 ment and other legal functions as provided by local 

26 law in the District of Columbia. 


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1 ‘‘(c) GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No individual may serve as 

3 District Attorney unless the individual— 

4 ‘‘(A) is a qualified elector; 

5 ‘‘(B) is domiciled in the District; 

6 ‘‘(C) has resided and been domiciled in the 

7 District for at least one year immediately pre8 ceding the day on which the general or special 

9 election for such office is to be held; 

10 ‘‘(D) holds no other public office for which 

11 he or she is compensated in an amount in ex12 cess of his or her actual expenses in connection 

13 therewith, except that nothing in this clause 

14 shall prohibit any such individual, while District 

15 Attorney, from serving as a delegate or alter16 nate delegate to a convention of a political 

17 party nominating candidates for President and 

18 Vice President of the United States, or from 

19 holding an appointment in a Reserve component 

20 of an armed force of the United States, other 

21 than a person serving on active duty under a 

22 call for more than thirty days; and 

23 ‘‘(E) is admitted to the practice of law in 

24 the District, is registered with the District of 

25 Columbia Bar as an active practitioner, and has 


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1 not been and is currently not disbarred or sus2 pended from practice in any jurisdiction. 

3 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS ON PRIVATE PRACTICE.— 

4 The District Attorney shall devote full time to the 

5 duties of the office and shall not directly or indi6 rectly engage in the private practice of law. 

7 ‘‘(3) FORFEITURE OF OFFICE.—The District 

8 Attorney shall forfeit the office upon failure to main9 tain the qualifications required by this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(d) ELECTIONS; FILLING VACANCIES; INITIAL AP11 POINTMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) ELECTIONS.—The District Attorney shall 

13 be elected on a partisan basis by the registered 

14 qualified electors of the District. The term of office 

15 of the District Attorney shall be four years, except 

16 as provided in paragraph (3), and shall begin at 

17 noon on January 2 of the year following the election. 

18 The District Attorney’s term of office shall coincide 

19 with the term of the Mayor. The first election for 

20 the District Attorney shall take place in 2010. 

21 ‘‘(2) VACANCIES.—To fill a vacancy for the po22 sition of District Attorney, the Board of Elections 

23 and Ethics shall hold a special election in the Dis24 trict on the first Tuesday occurring more than one 

25 hundred and fourteen days after the date on which 


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1 such vacancy occurs, unless the Board of Elections 

2 and Ethics determines that such vacancy could be 

3 more practically filled in a special election held on 

4 the same day as the next general election to be held 

5 in the District occurring within sixty days of the 

6 date on which a special election would otherwise 

7 have been held under the provisions of this sub8 section. The person shall take office on the day in 

9 which the Board of Elections and Ethics certifies his 

10 or her election and shall serve as District Attorney 

11 only for the remainder of the term during which 

12 such vacancy occurred. 

13 ‘‘(3) INITIAL APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 

14 30 days after the date of the enactment of the Dis15 trict of Columbia District Attorney Establishment 

16 Act of 2009, the Mayor, by resolution, shall appoint 

17 a District Attorney who shall serve until succeeded 

18 by an elected District Attorney. The proposed reso19 lution shall be submitted to the Council for a 30-day 

20 period of review, excluding days of Council recess. If 

21 the Council does not approve or disapprove the pro22 posed resolution within the 30-day review period, the 

23 resolution shall be deemed approved.’’. 

24 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

25 of part F of title IV of the District of Columbia Home 


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1 Rule Act is amended by adding at the end the following 

2 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 497. Office of the District Attorney for the District of Columbia.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITY OF DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR THE 

4 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FOR CONDUCT OF 

5 ALL PROSECUTIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 23–101, D.C. Official 

7 Code, is amended by striking subsections (a) through (f) 

8 and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(a) Prosecutions for violations of all police or munic10 ipal ordinances or regulations of the District of Columbia 

11 and for violations of all penal statutes of the District of 

12 Columbia in the nature of police or municipal regulations 

13 shall be conducted in the name of the District of Columbia 

14 by the District Attorney for the District of Columbia or 

15 the District Attorney’s assistants, except as may otherwise 

16 be provided in any such ordinance, regulation, or statute. 

17 ‘‘(b) An indictment or information brought in the 

18 name of the United States in the United States District 

19 Court for the District of Columbia may include charges 

20 of offenses prosecutable by the District of Columbia if the 

21 District Attorney for the District of Columbia consents to 

22 the inclusion of such charges in writing. 

23 ‘‘(c) An indictment or information brought in the 

24 name of the District of Columbia in the Superior Court 

25 of the District of Columbia may be joined for trial in the 


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1 United States District Court for the District of Columbia 

2 with an indictment or information brought in that court 

3 if the offenses charged therein could have been joined in 

4 the same indictment or information and if the District At5 torney for the District of Columbia consents to such join6 der. 

7 ‘‘(d) Nothing in this section shall affect the authority 

8 of the Attorney General of the United States or the United 

9 States Attorney for the District of Columbia to exercise 

10 jurisdiction concerning violations of the laws of the United 

11 States.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

13 (1) APPEALS.—Section 23–104, D.C. Official 

14 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Corporation Counsel’’ 

15 each place it appears in subsections (a)(1), (b), and 

16 (d), and inserting ‘‘District Attorney for the District 

17 of Columbia’’. 

18 (2) PROCEEDINGS TO ESTABLISH PREVIOUS

19 CONVICTIONS.—Section 23–111(a)(1), D.C. Official 

20 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Corporation Counsel’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘District Attorney for the District of 

22 Columbia’’. 

23 (3) DEFINITION OF PROSECUTOR.—Section 23– 

24 501, D.C. Official Code, is amended by striking 

25 ‘‘Corporation Counsel of the District of Columbia’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘District Attorney for the District of 

2 Columbia’’. 

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply with respect to violations of Dis5 trict of Columbia ordinances, regulations, and statutes 

6 which occur after the expiration of the 6-month period 

7 which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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