The Richmond County District Attorney is the elected
district attorney for
Richmond County Richmond County may refer to places:
Australia
*Richmond County, New South Wales, a cadastral division
Canada
*Richmond County, Nova Scotia
United Kingdom
*Richmondshire, the original Richmond County in Yorkshire, England
United States
...
, coterminous with the Borough of Staten Island, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. 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 (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...
of violations of
New York state laws, as violations of
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 Richmond County are prosecuted by the
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. The current District Attorney is
Michael McMahon
Michael E. McMahon (born September 12, 1957) is an American politician and attorney serving as the District Attorney for Richmond County, which is coextensive with Staten Island. A member of the Democratic Party, McMahon is a former U.S. Repre ...
.
History
In a legislative act of February 12, 1796, New York State was divided into seven districts, each with its own Assistant Attorney General. Richmond County was part of the First District, which also included Kings, Queens, Suffolk, and Westchester counties. At that time, Queens County included much of present-day Nassau County, and Westchester County included present-day Bronx County. The Assistant Attorney General was renamed District Attorney on April 4, 1801, and New York County was added to the First District. Westchester was separated from the First District in 1813, and New York County was separated in 1815. The 13 districts that existed were divided so that each county became its own district by a law passed 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 N ...
, 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 D.A. 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.
In case of a vacancy, the
Governor of New York appoints an interim district attorney who serves until a successor is elected at the next annual election. The term was increased to four years for the Richmond County District Attorney in 1937.
List of District Attorneys
References
External links
{{Current prosecutors of New York City, state=expanded
1818 establishments in New York (state)
Richmond County District Attorneys