I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 917 
To assign the responsibility for conducting prosecutions for violations of 
the laws of the District of Columbia to the head of a local prosecutor’s 
office designated under local law of the District of Columbia. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 30, 2019 
Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Reform 
A BILL 
To assign the responsibility for conducting prosecutions for 
violations of the laws of the District of Columbia to 
the head of a local prosecutor’s office designated under 
local law of the District of Columbia. 
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 
Local Prosecutor Home Rule Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. RESPONSIBILITY OF LOCAL PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE 
FOR CONDUCT OF ALL DISTRICT OF COLUM-
BIA 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 head of the local prosecutor’s office or the assist-
ants of the head of such office, 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 
head of the local prosecutor’s office consents to the inclu-
sion 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 
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the same indictment or information and if the head of the 
local prosecutor’s office consents to such joinder. 
‘‘(d) In this section, the ‘local prosecutor’s office’ is 
the office designated under local law of the District of Co-
lumbia as the office responsible for conducting prosecu-
tions under this section. 
‘‘(e) 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 ‘‘head of the local prosecutor’s of-
fice (as defined in section 23–101(d))’’. 
(2) PROCEEDINGS
TO
ESTABLISH
PREVIOUS 
CONVICTIONS.—Section 23–111(a)(1), D.C. Official 
Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Corporation Counsel’’ 
and inserting ‘‘head of the local prosecutor’s office 
(as defined in section 23–101(d))’’. 
(3) DEFINITION OF PROSECUTOR.—Section 23– 
501(3), D.C. Official Code, is amended by striking 
‘‘Corporation Counsel of the District of Columbia’’ 
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and inserting ‘‘head of the local prosecutor’s office 
(as defined in section 23–101(d))’’. 
(4) DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY SEIZED UNDER 
SEARCH WARRANT.—Section 23–525, D.C. Official 
Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Corporation Counsel 
for the District of Columbia’’ and inserting ‘‘head of 
the local prosecutor’s office (as defined in section 
23–101(d))’’. 
(5) DEPOSIT OF SEIZED CURRENCY.—Section 
23–532(b)(1), D.C. Official Code, is amended by 
striking ‘‘Corporation Counsel for the District of Co-
lumbia’’ and inserting ‘‘head of the local prosecu-
tor’s office (as defined in section 23–101(d))’’. 
(6) CONSULTATION IN PROMULGATION OF REG-
ULATIONS REGARDING WARRANT AND ARREST PRO-
CEDURES.—Section 23–533, D.C. Official Code, is 
amended by striking ‘‘Corporation Counsel’’ and in-
serting ‘‘head of the local prosecutor’s office (as de-
fined in section 23–101(d))’’. 
(7) RECOMMENDATIONS
BY
PRETRIAL
SERV-
ICES AGENCY REGARDING RELEASE OR DETENTION; 
NOTICE REGARDING FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH CON-
DITIONS OF RELEASE.—Section 23–1303, D.C. Offi-
cial Code, is amended— 
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(A) in the sixth sentence of subsection (a), 
by striking ‘‘Corporation Counsel of the District 
of Columbia’’ and inserting ‘‘head of the local 
prosecutor’s office (as defined in section 23– 
101(d))’’; and 
(B) in subsection (h)(5), by striking ‘‘Cor-
poration Counsel of the District of Columbia’’ 
and inserting ‘‘head of the local prosecutor’s of-
fice (as defined in section 23–101(d))’’. 
(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 on which a local law of the Dis-
trict of Columbia which designates the local prosecutor’s 
office for purposes of section 23–101(d), D.C. Official 
Code (as amended by subsection (a)) takes effect. 
Æ 
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