The United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (USADC) is the

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 ...

responsible for representing the federal government in the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District ...

. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia has two divisions, the Civil Division and the Criminal Division. The Civil Division is responsible for representing federal agencies in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and in appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Unlike the states,

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. By statute, the U.S. Attorney is responsible for prosecuting both federal crimes and all serious crimes committed by adults in the District of Columbia. Therefore, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia serves as both the federal prosecutor (as in the other 92 U.S. Attorneys' offices) and as the local district attorney. The

Attorney General of the District of Columbia The Attorney General for the District of Columbia is the chief legal officer of the District of Columbia. While attorneys general previously were appointed by the mayor, District of Columbia voters approved a charter amendment in 2010 that ...

, who is elected by the people of the District, handles local civil litigation and minor infractions, comparable with a

City Attorney A city attorney is a position in city and municipal government in the United States. The city attorney is the attorney representing the municipality. Unlike a district attorney or public defender, who usually handles criminal cases, a city att ...

. Because its jurisdiction covers the precincts of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

and the headquarters of several U.S. Government agencies, the USADC is considered one of the most influential U.S. Attorneys in the United States, along with 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 ...

. Appointment to the role is considered a significant career achievement for prosecutors.

List of U.S. Attorneys for the District of Columbia

* John T. Mason: 1801 * Walter Jones Jr.: 1801–1821 * Thomas Swann: 1821–1833 * Francis Scott Key: 1833–1841 *

Philip Richard Fendall II Philip Richard Fendall II (December 18, 1794 – February 16, 1868) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the District Attorney of Washington, D.C. Early life He was born December 18, 1794, at the Lee-Fendall House, located at 6 ...

: 1841–1845 * James Hoban Jr.: 1845–1846 *

Philip Barton Key II Philip Barton Key II (April 5, 1818 – February 27, 1859)Richardson, Hester Dorsey. ''Side-Lights on Maryland History: With Sketches of Early Maryland Families.'' Baltimore, Md.: Williams and Wilkins company, 1913. was an American lawyer who ser ...

: 1846–1849 *Philip Richard Fendall II: 1849–1853 *

: 1853–1859 * Robert Ould: 1859–1861 * Edward S. Carrington: 1861–1876 *

George P. Fisher George Purnell Fisher (October 13, 1817 – February 10, 1899) was Attorney General of Delaware, Secretary of State of Delaware, a United States representative from Delaware and an United States federal judge, Associate Justice of the Supreme Co ...

: 1870–1875 * Henry H. Wells: 1875–1880 * George B. Corkhill: 1880–1884 * Augustus S. Worthington: 1884–1888 *

John B. Hoge John Blair Hoge (February 2, 1825 – March 1, 1896) was an American journalist, lawyer, and Democratic politician who served as a United States Representative from West Virginia. He was a member of the 47th United States Congress. Biograp ...

: 1888–1891 * Charles Cleaves Cole: 1891–1893 * Arthur A. Birney: 1893–1897 * Henry E. Davis: 1897–1899 * Thomas H. Anderson: 1899–1901 * Ashley M. Gould: 1901–1903 * Morgan H. Beach: 1903–1905 * Daniel W. Baker: 1905–1910 * Clarence R. Wilson: 1910–1914 * John E. Laskey: 1914–1921 * Peyton Gordon: 1921–1928 * Leo A. Rover: 1928–1934 * Leslie C. Garnett: 1934–1937 *

David Andrew Pine David Andrew Pine (September 22, 1891 – June 11, 1970) was a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Education and career Born on September 22, 1891, in Washi ...

: 1938–1940 * Edward Matthew Curran: 1940–1946 * George M. Fay: 1946 * George E. McNeil: 1946–1947 *George M. Fay: 1947–1951 * Charles M. Irelan:: 1951–1953 *Leo A. Rover: 1953–1956 *

Oliver Gasch Oliver Gasch (May 4, 1906 – July 8, 1999) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Education and career Born in Washington, D.C., Gasch received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from ...

: 1956–1961 *

David Campion Acheson David Campion Acheson (November 4, 1921 – August 16, 2018) was an American attorney. Son of one time United States Secretary of State Dean Acheson, he worked for the United States Atomic Energy Commission and served as an assistant to former Tr ...

: 1961–1965 * John C. Conliff Jr.: 1965 * David G. Bress: 1965–1969 * Thomas Aquinas Flannery: 1969–1971 * Harold H. Titus Jr.: 1971–1974 * Earl J. Silbert: 1974–1979 * Carl Raul: 1979 * Charles Ruff: 1979–1981 * Stanley S. Harris: 1982–1983 * Joseph diGenova: 1983–1988 *Timothy J. Reardon III (interim): 1988 * Jay B. Stephens: 1988–1993 *J. Ramsey Johnson (interim): 1993 *

Eric Holder Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015. Holder, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama, was the first African Amer ...

: 1993–1997 *Mary Lou Leary (interim): July 1997 – January 1998 *

Wilma A. Lewis Wilma Antoinette Lewis (born June 28, 1956) is a United States district judge of the District Court of the Virgin Islands. She previously served as the first female United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Early life and education ...

: January 1998 – April 2001 * Roscoe C. Howard: August 2001 – May 2004 * Kenneth L. Wainstein: May 2004 – September 28, 2006 * Jeffrey A. Taylor (interim): September 28, 2006 – May 28, 2009 *

Ronald Machen Ronald C. Machen Jr. (born May 6, 1969) is the former United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. In April 2015, he left the position and returned to the law firm WilmerHale after the longest tenure as US Attorney for the District of C ...

: February 2010 – March 31, 2015 *Vincent Cohen Jr. (interim): April 1, 2015 – October 19, 2015Acting United States Attorney Vincent H. Cohen, Jr. to Step Down
/ref> * Channing D. Phillips: October 19, 2015 – September 24, 2017 * Jessie Liu: September 24, 2017 – January 31, 2020 * Timothy Shea (interim) January 31, 2020 – May 19, 2020 * Michael R. Sherwin (interim) May 19, 2020 – March 3, 2021 * Channing D. Phillips (interim) March 3, 2021 – November 5, 2021 * Matthew M. Graves: November 5, 2021 – present

References

{{Reflist

Sources

Bicentennial Celebration of the U.S. Attorneys
Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

, 1989.
United States Attorney for the District of Columbia
*