I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2334
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 
JUNE 4, 2003
Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Government Reform 
A BILL 
To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to estab-
lish the Office of the District Attorney for the District 
of Columbia, headed by a locally elected and independent 
District Attorney, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘District of Columbia 
District Attorney Establishment Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT AT-
TORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part F of title IV of the District 
of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1–204.91 et seq., D.C. 
Official Code) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT 
OF COLUMBIA 
‘‘SEC. 496. (a) CREATION.—There is hereby estab-
lished the Office of the District Attorney for the District 
of Columbia (hereafter in this section referred to as the 
‘Office’), to be headed by the District Attorney for the 
District of Columbia (hereafter in this section referred to 
as the ‘District Attorney’). 
‘‘(b) GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES.—The District 
Attorney shall be the chief legal officer for the District 
of Columbia, and in the performance of such duties 
shall—
‘‘(1) prosecute the local criminal laws of the 
District of Columbia, including violations committed 
by both adult and juvenile offenders, and perform 
any related functions as provided by local law in the 
District of Columbia; and 
‘‘(2) have the authority to perform civil enforce-
ment and other legal functions as provided by local 
law in the District of Columbia.
‘‘(c) GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No individual may serve as 
District Attorney unless the individual—
‘‘(A) is a qualified elector; 
‘‘(B) is domiciled in the District; 
‘‘(C) has resided and been domiciled in the 
District for at least one year immediately pre-
ceding the day on which the general or special 
election for such office is to be held; 
‘‘(D) holds no other public office for which 
he or she is compensated in an amount in ex-
cess of his or her actual expenses in connection 
therewith, except that nothing in this clause 
shall prohibit any such individual, while District 
Attorney, from serving as a delegate or alter-
nate delegate to a convention of a political 
party nominating candidates for President and 
Vice President of the United States, or from 
holding an appointment in a Reserve component 
of an armed force of the United States, other 
than a person serving on active duty under a 
call for more than thirty days; and 
‘‘(E) is admitted to the practice of law in 
the District, is registered with the District of 
Columbia Bar as an active practitioner, and has
not been and is currently not disbarred or sus-
pended from practice in any jurisdiction.. 
‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS ON PRIVATE PRACTICE.—
The District Attorney shall devote full time to the 
duties of the office and shall not directly or indi-
rectly engage in the private practice of law. 
‘‘(3) FORFEITURE
OF
OFFICE.—The District 
Attorney shall forfeit the office upon failure to main-
tain the qualifications required by this subsection 
‘‘(d) ELECTIONS; FILLING VACANCIES; INITIAL AP-
POINTMENT.—
‘‘(1) ELECTIONS.—The District Attorney shall 
be elected on a partisan basis by the registered 
qualified electors of the District. The term of office 
of the District Attorney shall be four years, except 
as provided in paragraph (3), and shall begin at 
noon on January 2 of the year following the election. 
The District Attorney’s term of office shall coincide 
with the term of the Mayor. The first election for 
the District Attorney shall take place in 2004. 
‘‘(2) VACANCIES.—To fill a vacancy for the po-
sition of District Attorney, the Board of Elections 
and Ethics shall hold a special election in the Dis-
trict on the first Tuesday occurring more than one 
hundred and fourteen days after the date on which
such vacancy occurs, unless the Board of Elections 
and Ethics determines that such vacancy could be 
more practically filled in a special election held on 
the same day as the next general election to be held 
in the District occurring within sixty days of the 
date on which a special election would otherwise 
have been held under the provisions of this sub-
section. The person shall take office on the day in 
which the Board of Elections and Ethics certifies his 
or her election and shall serve as District Attorney 
only for the remainder of the term during which 
such vacancy occurred. 
‘‘(3) INITIAL
APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 
30 days after the date of the enactment of the Dis-
trict of Columbia District Attorney Establishment 
Act of 2003, the Mayor, by resolution, shall appoint 
a District Attorney who shall serve until succeeded 
by an elected District Attorney. The proposed reso-
lution shall be submitted to the Council for a 30-day 
period of review, excluding days of Council recess. If 
the Council does not approve or disapprove the pro-
posed resolution within the 30-day review period, the 
resolution shall be deemed approved.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
of part F of title IV of the District of Columbia Home
Rule Act is amended by adding at the end the following 
new item:
‘‘Sec. 496. Office of the District Attorney for the District of Columbia.’’.
SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITY OF DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR THE 
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FOR CONDUCT OF 
ALL PROSECUTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 23–101, D.C. Official 
Code, is amended by striking subsections (a) through (f) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(a) Prosecutions for violations of all police or munic-
ipal ordinances or regulations of the District of Columbia 
and for violations of all penal statutes of the District of 
Columbia in the nature of police or municipal regulations 
shall be conducted in the name of the District of Columbia 
by the District Attorney for the District of Columbia or 
the District Attorney’s assistants, except as may otherwise 
be provided in any such ordinance, regulation, or statute. 
‘‘(b) An indictment or information brought in the 
name of the United States in the United States District 
Court for the District of Columbia may include charges 
of offenses prosecutable by the District of Columbia if the 
District Attorney for the District of Columbia consents to 
the inclusion of such charges in writing. 
‘‘(c) An indictment or information brought in the 
name of the District of Columbia in the Superior Court 
of the District of Columbia may be joined for trial in the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia 
with an indictment or information brought in that court 
if the offenses charged therein could have been joined in 
the same indictment or information and if the District At-
torney for the District of Columbia consents to such join-
der. 
‘‘(d) Nothing in this section shall affect the authority 
of the Attorney General of the United States or the United 
States Attorney for the District of Columbia to exercise 
jurisdiction concerning violations of the laws of the United 
States.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) APPEALS.—Section 23–104, D.C. Official 
Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Corporation Counsel’’ 
each place it appears in subsections (a)(1), (b), and 
(d), and inserting ‘‘District Attorney for the District 
of Columbia’’. 
(2) PROCEEDINGS
TO
ESTABLISH
PREVIOUS 
CONVICTIONS.—Section 23–111(a)(1), D.C. Official 
Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Corporation Counsel’’ 
and inserting ‘‘District Attorney for the District of 
Columbia’’. 
(3) DEFINITION OF PROSECUTOR.—Section 23–
501, D.C. Official Code, is amended by striking 
‘‘Corporation Counsel of the District of Columbia’’
and inserting ‘‘District Attorney for the District of 
Columbia’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to violations of Dis-
trict of Columbia ordinances, regulations, and statutes 
which occur after the expiration of the 6-month period 
which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.
Æ