Attorney General of the District of Columbia
Seal of the Office of the Attorney General
Incumbent Brian Schwalb since January 2, 2023
Term length	Four years, renewable
Inaugural holder	Richard Wallach
Formation	1973
Website	Office of the Attorney General

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TheAttorney General for the District of Columbia is thechief legal officer of theDistrict of Columbia. The position has been elected by popular vote of D.C. residents since 2015. The current attorney general isBrian Schwalb, who has served since January 2, 2023.

Due to D.C.'s unique status as a federal enclave and not part of astate, the attorney general's position is unique, and shares some similarities with otherstates' attorneys general, some with localprosecutors and some withmunicipal legal departments.

The attorney general enforces many of the district's laws, provides advice and counsel the local government and departments, and assists consumers and others in the district.^[1] He is responsible for prosecutingjuvenile criminal law and somemisdemeanor crimes for adults, but adultfelonies and other prosecutions are handled by theU.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, a federalDepartment of Justice official who is appointed by and reports to thepresident.^[2]

FromCongress's creation of Washington, D.C.'s municipal government in 1802 until 1824, it did not have a city attorney position. Various local attorneys were retained for particular matters, includingFrancis Scott Key, best known as the author of the text of "The Star-Spangled Banner", who was paid $60 in 1820 for legal services.^[3]

In 1824, the electedcity council created the early precursor to the attorney general, then called the City Attorney, for Washington, which was at the time a separate city fromGeorgetown and the rest of the district.Richard Wallach was the first city attorney, serving from July 1, 1824, to June 30, 1830, and paid $100 per year. The position was appointed by the mayor, who was at the time appointed by thepresident of the United States. When the city'scharter was reorganized by Congress into a unified District in 1871, the position was renamed to Attorney for the District of Columbia and appointed by the governor and later the Board of Commissioners. It was briefly renamed City Solicitor in 1901, but became Corporation Counsel the next year.^[3]

TheDistrict of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 by Congress brought the district a democratically elected mayor. The chief legal officer was still the corporation counsel, but the mayor was given the power to appoint them.^[4]

On May 26, 2004, MayorAnthony A. Williams signed an executive order that changed the name of the office to Attorney General without making any substantive changes to its responsibilities or functions.^[5]

In the November 2, 2010, general election, voters approved Charter Amendment IV that made the office of Attorney General an elected position.

Charter Amendment IV^[6][7]

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	90,316	75.78
No	28,868	24.22
Total votes	119,184	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	453,014	26.30

In July 2012,^[8] the District of Columbia council voted to postpone the election of attorney general to 2018, citing a dispute over how much power the elected attorney general would have. Council ChairmanPhil Mendelson called the vote "an embarrassment."^[8]

In September 2013,Paul Zukerberg filed suit against the District of Columbia Council and the city elections claiming any delay would violate the District charter — which was amended through the 2010 ballot question to provide for the election of the city’s top lawyer.^[8] Attorney General Irv Nathan initially argued that Zukerberg was not suffering any “meaningful hardship” from pushing back the election.^[9]

On February 7, 2014, a District of Columbia Superior Court judge ruled that ballots for the April 1 primary could be printed without the Attorney General race.^[10] Zukerberg appealed the ruling, declaring himself a candidate and arguing that he would suffer "irreparable harm" if the election were postponed.^[11][12]

On June 4, 2014, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals overturned the lower court's decision. The Court held "that the Superior Court's interpretation was incorrect as a matter of law" and reversed. The Court ruled that the original language in the Elected Attorney General Act is ambiguous in stating the election "shall be after January 1, 2014," and that the attorney general referendum ratified by a majority of District of Columbia voters in 2010 made it seem as though the election would take place in 2014.^[13] On June 13, Zukerberg collected nominating petitions.^[14]

Joining Zukerberg as candidates for the position were insurance litigator and activistLorie Masters, federal lawyerEdward "Smitty" Smith, white-collar attorneyKarl Racine, and legislative policy analyst Lateefah Williams.^{[9][15][16][17]} Racine secured a plurality victory, winning 36% of the votes cast, and was sworn in as the first elected Attorney General in January 2015.^[18][19][20]

In 2025, following thedeployment of federal forces in D.C. by President Donald Trump, Republicans in Congress advanced legislation that would remove the elected attorney general and replace the position with one appointed by the president.^[21]

In 1824, the position of City Attorney was established by resolution of the City Council. When the District of Columbia took on the territorial form of government on July 1, 1871, the position of Attorney for the District of Columbia was established by the First Legislative Assembly.^[3] In 1901, the position title was changed to City Solicitor, and in 1902, the title was changed to Corporation Counsel, which it remained until 2004. In 2004, the office's name was changed fromCorporation Counsel toAttorney General by Mayor's Order 2004-92, May 26,^[22] makingRobert Spagnoletti the only person to hold both titles.^{[citation needed]}

This list isincomplete; you can help byadding missing items.(August 2019)

Image	Name	Took office	Left office	President(s) of the Board
	William A. Cook	July 2, 1871	July 2, 1874
	Edwin L. Stanton	July 3, 1874	October 31, 1876
	William Birney	November 1, 1876	October 31, 1877
	Alfred G. Riddle	November 1, 1877	November 30, 1889
	George C. Hazelton	1889	1893	John Watkinson Douglass
	Sidney J. Thomas	1893	1899	John Wesley Ross; John Brewer Wright
	Andrew B. Duvall[23][24]	1899	September 12, 1905	John Brewer Wright;Henry Brown Floyd MacFarland
	Edward H. Thomas[25]	1905	1913	Henry Brown Floyd MacFarland; Cuno Hugo Rudolph
	Conrad H. Syme[26]	1913	1920	Oliver Peck Newman;Louis Brownlow
	Francis H. Stephens[3]	1920	1927
	William W. Bride	1927	1934	Proctor L. Dougherty; Luther Halsey Reichelderfer; Melvin Colvin Hazen
	E. Barrett Prettyman	1934	1936	Melvin Colvin Hazen
	Elwood H. Seal	1936	1940
	Richmond B. Keech	1940	1945
	Vernon West[27]	1945
	Chester H. Gray	1956	1965	Robert E. McLaughlin, Walter Nathan Tobriner
	Charles T. Duncan[28][29]	1966	1970	Walter Nathan Tobriner
	C. Francis Murphy	1970	1976	Mayor-Commissioner Walter Washington

No.	Image	Name	Took office	Left office	Mayor(s)
1		C. Francis Murphy[30]	1970[31]	1976[31]	Walter Washington
2		John R. Risher[32]	1976[31]	June 1978[33][31]
Acting		Louis P. Robbins[33]	June 1978[31]	April 12, 1979[31]	Walter Washington;Marion Barry
3		Judith W. Rogers[34]	April 12, 1979[33][31]	September 15, 1983[31]	Marion Barry
4		Inez Smith Reid	September 15, 1983[31]	July 8, 1986[31]
Acting		John H. Suda	July 8, 1986[31]	1986[31]
Acting		James R. Murphy	1986[31]	1987[31]
5		Frederick D. Cooke Jr.[35]	1987	1990
Acting		Herbert O. Reid Sr.	1990[31]	1991[31]
Acting		Beverly J. Burke	1991[31]	1991[31]	Marion Barry;Sharon Pratt Kelly
6		John Payton	1991	1994	Sharon Pratt Kelly
7		Vanessa Ruiz	1994	October 7, 1994
Acting		Erias Hyman	October 7, 1994[31]	1995[31]
Interim		Garland Pinkston	1995[31]	August 1995[31]	Marion Barry
8		Charles Ruff	August 1995	February 1997
Interim		Jo Anne Robinson	February 1997[31]	September 24, 1997[31]
9		John M. Ferren[36]	September 24, 1997[37]	April 19, 1999	Marion Barry;Anthony A. Williams
Interim		Jo Anne Robinson	April 19, 1999[31]	1999[31]	Anthony A. Williams
10		Robert Rigsby	1999[31]	2002[31]
Interim		Arabella W. Teal[38]	2002[31]	2003[31]
11		Robert Spagnoletti	2003[31]	2006[31]
Interim		Eugene Adams	2006[39]	December 31, 2006[39]
12		Linda Singer	January 2, 2007[31]	January 5, 2008[31]	Adrian Fenty[31]
13		Peter Nickles[40]	January 6, 2008[41][31]	January 2011
14		Irvin B. Nathan	January 2011[31]	November 17, 2014[31]	Vincent C. Gray

No.	Image	Name	Took office	Left office	Mayor(s)
15		Karl Racine	January 2, 2015	January 2, 2023	Muriel Bowser
16		Brian Schwalb	January 2, 2023	present

• Solicitor General of the District of Columbia

• District of Columbia Attorney General official website
• Search for articles atABA Journal
• News and Commentary atFindLaw
• District of Columbia Code at Law.Justia.com
• U.S. Supreme Court Opinions - "Cases with title containing: District of Columbia" atFindLaw
• District of Columbia Bar
• District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine profile atNational Association of Attorneys General
• Press releases at District of Columbia Attorney General

• Attorneys general for the District of Columbia
• 1973 establishments in Washington, D.C.

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