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 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 2009’’. 
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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. 497. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby 
established the Office of the District Attorney for the Dis-
trict 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. 
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‘‘(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 
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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 2010. 
‘‘(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 
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