The Bronx County District Attorney is the elected district attorney for

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

County, which is coterminous with the Borough of the Bronx, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The office is responsible for the

prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...

of violations of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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 group of political units, such as states or provinces join in a federation, delegating their individual sovereignty and many po ...

in the Bronx is prosecuted by the

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in eight New York counties: New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess and Sullivan. Establish ...

). The current Bronx County District Attorney is

Darcel Clark Darcel Denise Clark (born April 2, 1962) is an American attorney and prosecutor serving as the Bronx County District Attorney, serving since 2016. Clark is the first woman to hold that office, and the first woman of color to serve as a district at ...

History

In a legislative act of February 12, 1796, New York State was divided into seven districts, each with an Assistant Attorney General, except for New York County, where

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Josiah Ogden Hoffman Josiah Ogden Hoffman (April 14, 1766 – January 24, 1837) was an American lawyer and politician. Early life Josiah Ogden Hoffman was born on April 14, 1766, in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Nicholas Hoffman (1736–1800) and Sarah Ogden Hoffma ...

prosecuted personally until 1801. The First District included Kings,

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, and Westchester counties. At that time, Westchester also included present-day Bronx County, and Queens County included much of present-day Nassau County. The Assistant Attorney General was renamed District Attorney and

New York County Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

was added to the First District on April 4, 1801. Westchester was separated from the First District and became part of the Eleventh District with Rockland and Putnam counties on April 12, 1813, and New York County became the Twelfth District on March 24, 1815. By 1818, New York State had 13 districts, which were divided so that each of the 50 county then in existence became its own district on April 21, 1818. 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 Ne ...

, 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, district attorneys were appointed to three-year terms by their County Court, and under the provisions of the Constitution of 1846, the office became elective by popular ballot for a three-year term beginning January 1 and ending December 31. Vacancies were filled by 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 has ...

until a successor was elected to a full term at the next annual election, and acting district attorneys were appointed by Courts of General Sessions pending the governor's action. In 1874, New York City annexed the

West Bronx The West Bronx is a region in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The region lies west of the Bronx River and roughly corresponds to the western half of the borough. The West Bronx is more densely populated than the East Bronx, and is close ...

into New York County. New York County was further expanded in 1895 to include all of today's New York and Bronx Counties. The Consolidation Charter of 1896 extended the term of incumbent district attorney

John R. Fellows John R. Fellows (July 29, 1832 – December 7, 1896) was an American lawyer and politician from Arkansas and New York (state), New York. He served as New York County District Attorney (1888-1890, 1894-1896), and a member of Congress from New Yo ...

, who had been elected in 1893 to a three-year term from January 1, 1894 to December 31, 1896, by an extra year. Since the city elections of 1897, the New York and Bronx County District Attorneys' terms have coincided with the Mayor's terms and have been four years, except for 1901 to 1905, when two mayors served two-year terms. In case of a vacancy, a special election is held for the remainder of the term. For the list of district attorneys for the area covering Bronx County prior to its creation from New York County, see Werner (p. 553, 554, and 563) for 1801 to 1874, both Werner (p. 563) and

New York County District Attorney The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County (Manhattan), New York (state), New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New ...

from 1874 to 1895, and

for 1895 to 1913. When Bronx County was created on January 1, 1914, Francis W. Martin, who won the election in November 1913 in anticipation of its formation, became district attorney. His initial salary was $10,000.

List of Bronx County District Attorneys

References

External links

official website
{{Portal, New York City, New York (state) The Bronx Bronx County District Attorneys 1914 establishments in New York City