In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, state attorney or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a local government area, typically a county or a group of counties. The exact scope of the office varies by state. Generally, the prosecutor is said to represent the people of the jurisdiction in the state's courts, typically in criminal matters, against defendants. With the exception of three states, district attorneys are elected, unlike similar roles in other common law jurisdictions.
The government of Maryland is conducted according to the Maryland Constitution. The United States is a federation; consequently, the government of Maryland, like the other 49 state governments, has exclusive authority over matters that lie entirely within the state's borders, except as limited by the Constitution of the United States.
Jack Bruce Johnson is a former American politician and lawyer. He was a Maryland state's attorney and was, from 2002 to 2010, the county executive of Prince George's County, Maryland. He was elected state's attorney in November 1994 and served as county executive from December 2002 to December 2010. On November 12, 2010, both Johnson and his wife were indicted on federal charges as part of a larger political corruption scandal in the county.
Catherine Curran O'Malley is an American jurist who served as a Baltimore City District Court judge. She is married to Martin O'Malley, a former governor of Maryland and mayor of Baltimore, and a 2016 presidential candidate. She was an unsuccessful candidate for Maryland Attorney General in the 2022 election.
California Proposition 21, known also as Prop 21, was a proposition proposed and passed in 2000 that increased a variety of criminal penalties for crimes committed by youth and incorporated many youth offenders into the adult criminal justice system. Major provisions of the proposition, as summarized by Attorney General of California are:
Davis R. Ruark is an American lawyer. From February, 1987 to January, 2011 Ruark served as the State’s Attorney for Wicomico County, Maryland. Currently, he serves as a Special Assistant District Attorney in the 12th and 13th Prosecutorial District of North Carolina. Prior to the appointment in North Carolina, Ruark served as Deputy District Attorney in the Twelfth District Attorney’s Office in New Mexico. He also served as a Deputy District Attorney in New Mexico’s 3rd District, supervising all of the felony attorneys. Before starting in the 3rd District, Ruark served as a Chief Deputy District Attorney in the Eddy County/Carlsbad District Attorney's Office in the 5th Judicial District of New Mexico. Ruark is a member of the Maryland, North Carolina and New Mexico State Bars. He is also a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ruark's father, Elmer F. Ruark served as Mayor of Salisbury, Maryland, from 1974-1982.
Delbert Gee is a retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge who served for 20 years until 2022, presiding over both civil and criminal cases.
Aisha Nazapa Braveboy is an American politician and attorney who has served as the state's attorney of Prince George's County, Maryland since 2018. She was previously a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing the 25th district from 2007 to 2015.
Brian E. Frosh is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of Maryland from 2015 to 2023. He also served five terms in the Maryland State Senate, representing Maryland's District 16 in Montgomery County. Prior to serving in the Senate, Frosh represented District 16 in the Maryland House of Delegates, serving two four-year terms.
The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the California Superior Court located in Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States.
George Gascón is an American attorney and former police officer who is the district attorney of Los Angeles County. A member of the Democratic Party and a former member of the Republican Party, Gascón served as the district attorney of San Francisco from 2011 to 2019. Prior to his work as a prosecutor, he was an assistant chief of police for the LAPD, and Chief of Police in Mesa, Arizona and San Francisco.
Edward R. Jagels is a former American prosecutor and was Kern County, California’s longest-sitting District Attorney, holding the office from 1983 to 2010. During this time, he prosecuted some notorious cases of wrongful convictions, and engaged in what is now acknowledged widely to have been a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct, in which he convicted innocent people of abusing children. Kern County has since paid out 10 million dollars in settlements to the people wrongly convicted by Ed Jagels.
Michele Mladejovsky Christiansen Forster is an American lawyer who has served as a judge of the Utah Court of Appeals.
Stephen Howard Sachs was an American lawyer and politician in the state of Maryland. He served as the Attorney General of Maryland from 1979 to 1987. He was noted for prosecuting the Catonsville Nine in 1968.
The Denver District Attorney's Office is responsible for the prosecution of state criminal violations in the Second Judicial District. Colorado has 64 counties within the 22 judicial districts in the State. The office is composed of approximately 75 attorneys and 125 support staff, who as a whole are responsible for more than 6,000 felony and 17,000 misdemeanor prosecutions annually. The elected District Attorney is the chief law enforcement officer in the City and County of Denver, and is responsible for the prosecution of violations of Colorado State Laws. The current Denver District Attorney is Beth McCann.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney is a non-partisan elected official in King County, Washington. The Prosecuting Attorney leads the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, and prosecutes all felonies that occur within King County, Washington. Since 2023, the position has been held by Leesa Manion, the former deputy county prosecutor.
Alan Scott Bolden is an American attorney, law partner, and former radio and television host. He is currently a television and radio legal and political commentator, and as an attorney, continues to represent the interests of several nonprofits, including the United Negro College Fund, the Greater Washington Urban League, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
Ryan David Hatfield is an American attorney and politician serving as the State Representative for Indiana House District 77. Hatfield is the Assistant Democratic Whip for the Indiana House Democrats. He serves as Ranking Democrat of the Indiana House Judiciary Committee as well as the Indiana House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee. Hatfield is also a member of the Indiana House Public Health Committee and the Indiana House Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Committee.
Ivan Jules Bates is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the State's Attorney of Baltimore since 2023.
Melissa Powers is an attorney and retired judge currently serving as prosecuting attorney for Hamilton County, Ohio. She has served in this position since January 2023, and was appointed after incumbent Joseph Deters left the job for a position on the Ohio Supreme Court. Powers is a member of the Republican Party.
