The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

for

New York County Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

, New York. The office is responsible for the

prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

of violations of New York

state law State law refers to the law of a federated state, as distinguished from the law of the federation of which it is a part. It is used when the constituent components of a federation are themselves called states. Federations made up of provinces, cant ...

s (

federal law Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a country has a central government as well as regional governments, such as subnational states or provinces, each with constituti ...

violations in Manhattan are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York). The current district attorney is

Alvin Bragg Alvin Leonard Bragg Jr. (born October 21, 1973) is an American politician and lawyer who serves as the New York County District Attorney, covering Manhattan. In 2021, he became the first African American elected to that office. Bragg had previo ...

. He was elected in 2021 to succeed Cyrus Vance Jr. District attorneys are legally permitted to delegate the prosecution of

petty crime A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary offe ...

s or offenses. Prosecutors do not normally handle

New York City Criminal Court The Criminal Court of the City of New York is a court of the Judiciary of New York (state), State Unified Court System in New York City that handles misdemeanors (generally, criminal law, crimes punishable by fine or imprisonment of up to one ye ...

summons court cases, and the Manhattan district attorney has a memorandum of understanding with the

New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

allowing their legal bureau to selectively prosecute them.

History

In the legislative act of February 12, 1796,

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

was divided into seven districts, each with an Assistant Attorney General, except New York County where

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Josiah Ogden Hoffman prosecuted personally until 1801. From 1801 to 1813, New York County was part of the First District, which included the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk. At that time, Queens included current-day Nassau County and Westchester included

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. In 1813, Westchester County was apportioned to a new district with Rockland and Putnam counties, and in 1815, New York County became the Twelfth District—the only one at the time that was a single county. In 1818, each county in the state became its own district. From 1874 to 1895, New York County included the West Bronx, and from 1895 to 1913 it included all of what is now Bronx County, governing the same area as does the present

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

of the Bronx. On January 1, 1914, the Bronx became a separate county with its own district attorney. Until 1822, the district attorney was appointed by the

Council of Appointment The Council of Appointment (sometimes also Council of Appointments) was a body of the Government of New York that existed from 1777 to 1822. History Under the New York Constitution of 1777, the Council of Appointment consisted of the Governor of ...

, and held the office "during the Council's pleasure", meaning that there was no defined term of office. Under the provisions of the New York State Constitution of 1821, the district attorney was appointed to a three-year term by the County Court, and under the provisions of the Constitution of 1846, the office became elective by popular ballot. The term was three years, beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31. In case of a vacancy, an acting district attorney was appointed by the Court of General Sessions until the

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...

filled the vacancy with an interim appointment until an election was held for the remainder of the term. The Consolidation Charter of 1896 extended the term by a year of the incumbent John R. Fellows, who had been elected in 1893 to a three-year term (1894–1896). Since the city election of 1897, the district attorney's term has coincided with the mayor's term and has been four years long.Except from 1901 to 1905, when the district attorney's term was four years and two mayors each served a two-year term. In case of a vacancy, the governor can make an interim appointment until a special election is held for the remainder of the term. File:Ny-county-hogan-entrance.jpg, The office operates out of the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse at 1 Hogan Place (100 Centre Street) File:Louis J. Lefkowitz State Office Building 80 Centre Street.jpg, The district attorney also operates out of the Louis J. Lefkowitz State Office Building on 80 Centre Street (141 Worth Street).

List of district attorneys

In popular culture

Films

* '' Legal Eagles'' (1986)

Television series

* '' The D.A.'s Man'', which ran for a single season on NBC in 1959, starred John Compton as Shannon, an undercover investigator for the Manhattan DA's office. Produced by

Jack Webb John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, most famous for his role as Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise), ''Dragnet'' franchise ...

, the series fictionalized the career of real-life Manhattan DA's Investigator Harold Danforth, whose autobiography, also titled ''The D.A.'s Man'', written in collaboration with veteran, Pulitzer Prize-winning police reporter James D. Horan, had won an

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

for Best Fact Crime Book. * '' For the People'' starred

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

as an idealistic young deputy district attorney in the Manhattan DA's Office, Howard da Silva as his supervisor, and Lonny Chapman as his investigator. * ''

Hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and others. This ...

'', which ran for a half-season in 1966, starred

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...

as Lt. John Hawk, a detective assigned to NYPD's Manhattan DA's Squad. * '' Cagney & Lacey'' was revived in 1994 for a series of irregularly scheduled two-hour TV-movies. In the interim between these films and the original series, Cagney had been promoted to lieutenant and placed in command of the NYPD's Manhattan DA's Squad. Lacey, having retired some years earlier was persuaded to return to police work as a criminal investigator for the Manhattan DA's Bureau of Investigation, allowing the two partners to work together again. There were four movies in the revived series between 1994 and 1996. * '' Blue Bloods'': Depicts the prosecution of criminal suspects by lawyers of the New York County District Attorney's office through the character assistant district attorney Erin Reagan ( Bridget Moynahan), who started out the series as a Trial Division Assistant District Attorney before being promoted to Deputy Bureau Chief in toward the end of Season 3 and then to Trial Division Bureau Chief at the start of Season 9. Since Season 5, Erin has worked closely with D.A. Investigator Anthony Abetemarco ( Steven R. Schirripa). * ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

'': The long-running television series ''

'' and its spin-offs depict the prosecution of criminal suspects by lawyers of the New York County District Attorney's office. In the original pilot episode " Everybody's Favorite Bagman", shot in 1988, Roy Thinnes was cast as District Attorney Alfred Wentworth. Subsequent district attorneys depicted in the franchise are

Adam Schiff Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from California, a seat he has held since 2024. A m ...

(1990–2000),

Nora Lewin The American television police procedural and legal drama ''Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, ...

(2000–2002), Arthur Branch (2002–2007), Jack McCoy (2008–2011, 2018–2024), and Nicholas Baxter (2024–present). ''Law & Order'' ceased production in 2010, but McCoy (though not seen) was still occasionally mentioned as being the Manhattan district attorney in the spin-off series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' in several episodes through 2011. A reference to "the new DA" in a 2013 episode indicated that McCoy had moved on from the position presumably sometime in 2012; his replacement was unnamed. However, McCoy became the district attorney again as of 2018, showing up in an ''SVU'' episode and later during the 21st season of ''Law & Order'' that started in 2022.

References

External links

Manhattanda.org
{{Current prosecutors of New York City, state=expanded 1815 establishments in New York (state)

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

District attorney's offices