Daniel Todd Satterberg is an American attorney and politician who served as the prosecuting attorney of

King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

, Washington, from 2007 to 2023.

Early life and education

Born in Seattle, Satterberg graduated from Highline High School and the University of Washington. He later earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the University of Washington School of Law.

Career

Satterberg began work in the King County Prosecutor's office. There he spent four years as a trial attorney in the Criminal Division before serving as chief of staff to then-Prosecutor

Norm Maleng Norman "Kim" Maleng (September 17, 1938 – May 24, 2007) was an American attorney and politician who served as the King County Prosecuting Attorney for 28 years. He was also an architect of Washington's Sentencing Reform Act. Early life a ...

from 1990 to 2007. In May 2007, King County Prosecutor

unexpectedly died of a heart attack. Because Maleng had been elected as a moderate Republican, his successor was nominated by the King County Republican Central Committee. Satterberg was appointed by the King County Council to fill the position until a special election was held in November 2007. That November, Satterberg was elected to fill the remaining three years of Maleng's term. He subsequently won election as a Republican to a full four-year term in 2010. In 2016, Satterberg successfully pushed for a voter approved amendment to King County Charter to make the office of Prosecutor nominally non-partisan. Despite holding a non-partisan office, Satterberg made public in 2018 that his political views align with the Democratic Party. Since 2008, Satterberg has served on the State of Washington Sentencing Guidelines Commission under appointment by Governor Christine Gregoire. He was the co-chairman, along with former Washington Attorney-General Rob McKenna, of the Washington Law Enforcement Group Against Identity Theft (LEGIT), a quasi-governmental organization that seeks to raise awareness about consumer data privacy issues in Washington. Satterberg decided not to bring charges against Officer Ian Birk in the shooting of John T. Williams, a decision criticized by attorneys for the Williams family. In January 2022, Satterberg announced that he would not seek reelection when his current term expires.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Satterberg, Dan 1960 births Highline High School alumni Lawyers from Seattle Living people People from King County, Washington Politicians from Seattle University of Washington School of Law alumni Washington (state) lawyers Washington (state) Republicans