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The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for
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 ...
(Manhattan), New York. 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 (
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 ...
violations in Manhattan are 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 district attorney is
Alvin Bragg Alvin Leonard Bragg Jr. (born October 21, 1973) is an American politician and lawyer from the U.S. state, state of New York (state), New York who is serving as the New York County District Attorney. In 2021, he became the first African-American a ...
. 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 offenc ...
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 State Unified Court System in New York City that handles misdemeanors (generally, crimes punishable by fine or imprisonment of up to one year) and lesser offenses, and also conducts a ...
summons court cases, and the Manhattan district attorney has a memorandum of understanding with the
New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
allowing their legal bureau to selectively prosecute them.


History

In the legislative act of February 12, 1796, New York State was divided into seven districts, each with an Assistant Attorney General, except New York County where Attorney General
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. 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 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 ...
. 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 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 ...
, 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-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...
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 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 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 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.


Gallery

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


The New York County District Attorney in popular culture


Films

* ''
Legal Eagles ''Legal Eagles'' is a 1986 American legal romantic comedy mystery crime thriller film directed by Ivan Reitman, written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr. from a story by Reitman and the screenwriters, and starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger, and ...
'' (1986)


Television series

* '' The D.A.'s Man'', which ran for a single season on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
in 1959, starred
John Compton Sir John George Melvin Compton, (29 April 1925 – 7 September 2007) was a Saint Lucian politician who became the first Prime Minister upon independence in February 1979. Having led Saint Lucia under British rule from 1964 to 1979, Compton se ...
as Shannon, an undercover investigator for the Manhattan DA's office. Produced by Jack Webb, 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 from the
Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an 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 Edgar Awa ...
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 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...
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'', which ran for a half-season in 1966, starred Burt Reynolds as Lt. John Hawk, a detective assigned to NYPD's Manhattan DA's Squad. * ''
Cagney & Lacey ''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very di ...
'' 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 Kathryn Bridget Moynahan (born April 28, 1971) is an American actress and model. Moynahan is best known for her role as Erin Reagan in the police drama '' Blue Bloods''. She graduated from Longmeadow High School in Massachusetts in 1989 and be ...
), 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 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In tempera ...
and then to Trial Division Bureau Chief at the start of
Season 9 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...
. Since
Season 5 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...
, Erin has worked closely with D.A. Investigator Anthony Abetemarco ( Steven R. Schirripa). * '' Law & Order'': The long-running television series '' Law & Order'' and its
spin-offs Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...
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 "Everybody's Favorite Bagman" is the sixth episode of the police procedural and legal drama '' Law & Order''. It originally aired on NBC on October 30, 1990. It was produced in 1988 and was the pilot episode of the series.Courrier and Green (199 ...
", shot in 1988,
Roy Thinnes Roy Thinnes (born April 6, 1938) is an American television and film actor best known for his portrayal of lonely hero David Vincent in the ABC 1967–68 television series ''The Invaders''. He starred in the 1969 British science fiction film '' ...
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 who has served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Par ...
(1990–2000),
Nora Lewin Nora Lewin is a fictional character on the TV show '' Law & Order'', played by two-time Academy Award winning actress Dianne Wiest from 2000 to 2002. She appeared in 51 episodes (48 episodes of ''Law & Order'', one episode of '' Law & Order: Crim ...
(2000–2002), Arthur Branch (2002–2007) and
Jack McCoy John James McCoy is a fictional character in the television drama ''Law & Order''. He was created by Dick Wolf and Michael S. Chernuchin and has been portrayed by Sam Waterston during both the show's original run from 1994 to 2010 and since it ...
(2008–2011, 2018–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)