The Milwaukee County District Attorney is a state constitutional officer responsible for criminal prosecution in

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and th ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The current district attorney is

John T. Chisholm John Theodore Chisholm (born March 14, 1963) is an American prosecutor and politician who has served as Milwaukee County District Attorney since 2007. A career prosecutor, Chisholm specialized in complex conspiracy prosecutions before his electio ...

, who has served since 2007.

History

The first Milwaukee County District Attorney was Charles James, who served a two-year term beginning in 1848. District attorneys from then until 2008 also served two-year terms in office. Since that year, the district attorney serves for four years. The position is not, and has never been, subject to term limits. In the first decade of the 1900s, district attorney

Francis E. McGovern Francis Edward McGovern (January 21, 1866 – May 16, 1946) was an American lawyer and politician from Wisconsin. He served as the 22nd Governor of Wisconsin from 1911 to 1915. In 1911 especially he sponsored a major series of progressive achiev ...

and his office investigated and prosecuted corrupt city officials. The administration of Mayor

David Rose David Rose may refer to: Business * David Rose (real estate developer) (1892–1986), American real estate developer and philanthropist * David L. Rose (born 1967), American business executive and scientist at MIT Media Lab * David S. Rose (bor ...

was notorious for this, often ignoring illegal activity. Rose, although termed by McGovern "the self-elected, self-appointed attorney general" of local crime, was not indicted but was defeated in the 1910 mayoral election by

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

Emil Seidel Emil Seidel (December 13, 1864 – June 24, 1947) was a prominent German-American politician. Seidel was the List of mayors of Milwaukee, mayor of Milwaukee from 1910 to 1912. The first Socialism, Socialist mayor of a major city in the United Stat ...

Responsibilities

The district attorney's office is responsible for prosecuting state-level criminal offenses committed in Milwaukee County. The office also prosecutes county ordinance violators. Separate units within the office prosecute offenses such as violent crimes, sexual assault, domestic violence,

white-collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...

s, and

drug-related crime A drug-related crime is a crime to possess, manufacture, or distribute drugs classified as having a potential for abuse (such as cocaine, heroin, morphine and amphetamines). Drugs are also related to crime as drug trafficking and drug product ...

s, among others. The office also contains a unit devoted to prosecuting

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

offenses.

Notable district attorneys

*Charles James was the first district attorney, serving for two years (1848–1850). *

was responsible for the investigation and indictment of corrupt City of Milwaukee officials during

's mayoral administration. McGovern was elected

governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's army and air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Wiscon ...

in 1910. *

Herbert Steffes Herbert J. Steffes (June 18, 1904 – July 19, 1975) was an American jurist who served as Milwaukee County District Attorney from 1936 to 1944 and as a criminal court judge in Milwaukee from 1944 to 1974. Life and career Born in Milwaukee, Stef ...

, a Progressive in office from 1936 to 1944, was appointed by Governor

Philip La Follette Philip Fox La Follette (May 8, 1897August 18, 1965) was an American politician. He was the 27th and 29th Governor of Wisconsin, as well as one of the founders of the Wisconsin Progressive Party. Early life and family La Follette was born in ...

after his victorious election opponent died before polls closed on Election Day. Steffes later broke from the Progressives after prosecuting La Follette's executive secretary. *

William J. McCauley William J. McCauley (February 24, 1900 – October 30, 1964) was an American attorney and politician who served as Milwaukee County District Attorney from 1945 to his death in 1964. Life and career McCauley was born in Escanaba, Michigan and g ...

, district attorney from 1945 to 1964, was the longest-serving district attorney at the time of his death in office, a record since exceeded by E. Michael McCann, who McCauley hired. * Hugh R. O'Connell, who served from 1964 to 1968, later served as a

circuit judge. *

David J. Cannon David J. Cannon (August 6, 1933 – July 26, 2011) was an American attorney who served as Milwaukee County District Attorney from 1968 to 1969 and as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin from 1969 to 1973. Cannon was the ...

, district attorney from 1968 to 1969, later served as

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. *

E. Michael McCann Edward Michael McCann (born 1936) is an American attorney and politician who served as district attorney of Milwaukee County, Wis. from 1969 to 2007. A Democrat, McCann gained recognition for the length of his tenure and his successful record a ...

, district attorney from 1969 until 2007, prosecuted serial killer

Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (; May 21, 1960 – November 28, 1994), also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was an American serial killer and sex offender who killed and dismemberment, dismembered seventeen men and boys ...

and off-duty police officers who battered Frank Jude, Jr.

Employees

The district attorney's office is composed of about 125 assistant district attorneys, who are supervised by four deputy district attorneys and a chief deputy district attorney. The office is assisted by a relatively large support staff, and has ten investigators, who are law-enforcement officers.

References

{{Reflist Government of Wisconsin Government of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin