Queens County District Attorney

State prosecutor in New York From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The District Attorney of Queens County is the elected district attorney for Queens County in New York State, coterminous with the New York City borough of Queens. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws. (Federal law violations in Queens are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York). The current Queens County District Attorney is Melinda Katz, who assumed the duties of the office on January 1, 2020. There was an inauguration on January 6, 2020 at her alma mater, St. Johns University.

TypeDistrict attorney
Member ofDistrict Attorneys Association of the State of New York[1]
Term lengthFour years
FormationFebruary 12, 1796
Quick facts District Attorney of, Type ...
District Attorney of Queens County
Incumbent
Melinda Katz
since January 1, 2020
TypeDistrict attorney
Member ofDistrict Attorneys Association of the State of New York[1]
Term lengthFour years
FormationFebruary 12, 1796
First holderNathaniel Lawrence
DeputyChief Assistant District Attorney, Jennifer L. Naiburg[2]
Websitewww.queensda.org
Close

History

In a legislative act of February 12, 1796, New York State was divided into seven districts, each with its own Assistant Attorney General. Queens County was part of the First District, which also included Kings, Richmond, Suffolk, and Westchester counties. (At that time, Queens County included much of present-day Nassau County, and Westchester County included present-day Bronx County.) In 1801, the office of Assistant Attorney General was renamed District Attorney. At the same time, New York County was added to the First District. Westchester County was separated from the First District in 1813, and New York County was separated in 1815. In 1818, all 13 districts were broken up, and each county in the State of New York became a separate district.[3][4][5]

Until 1822, the district attorney was appointed by the Council of Appointment, and held the office "during the Council's pleasure", meaning that there was no defined term of office. Under the provisions of the State Constitution of 1821, the D.A. was appointed to a three-year term by the County Court. Under the provisions of the State 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, the Governor of New York filled the vacancy temporarily until a successor was elected, always to a full term, at the next annual election.[6]

One year after the 1898 Consolidation of New York City, Nassau County was separated from Queens County. In case of a vacancy, a DA is appointed by the Governor to fill the office temporarily. A new DA is then elected at the next annual election in November, always to a full term. From 1847 to 1942, the term length was three years. In November 1942, a DA was elected to a one-year term.[7] From the election of November 1943, the DA has been elected to a four-year term.

List of district attorneys

More information No., District attorney ...
No. District attorney Dates in office Party Notes
1 Nathaniel Lawrence February 16, 1796 – July 15, 1797 Dem.-Rep.
vacant July 15, 1797 – January 16, 1798
2 Cadwallader D. Colden January 16, 1798 – August 19, 1801 Federalist

[4][8]

3 Richard Riker August 19, 1801 – February 13, 1810 Dem.-Rep.

[4][8]

4 Cadwallader D. Colden February 13, 1810 – February 19, 1811 Federalist

[4][8]

5 Richard Riker February 19, 1811 – March 5, 1813 Dem.-Rep.

[4][8]

6 Barent Gardenier March 5, 1813 – April 8, 1815 Federalist

[4][8]

7 Thomas S. Lester April 8, 1815 – June 12, 1818 ?

[4][8]

8 Eliphalet Wickes June 12, 1818 – 1821 Dem.-Rep.

[9]

9 William T. McCoun 1821 – 1826

[9]

10 Benjamin F. Thompson 1826 – 1836

[9]

11 William H. Barroll May 3, 1836 – 1842

[9]

12 Alexander Hadden 1842 – 1845 Whig

[9]

13 John G. Lamberson 1845 – December 31, 1853
  • last to be appointed by the County Court and first to be elected by popular ballot (in May 1847), total of three terms[4]
14 William H. Onderdonk January 1, 1854 – December 31, 1859
  • elected to two three-year terms[9]
15 John J. Armstrong January 1, 1860 – December 31, 1865
  • elected to two three-year terms[9]
16 Benjamin W. Downing January 1, 1866 – October 26, 1883 Democratic
17 John Fleming October 27, 1883 – December 31, 1883 (interim)
January 1, 1884 – December 31, 1886		 Democratic
  • appointed by Governor Cleveland to replace Downing[9][14]
  • elected to a three-year term[15]
  • lost re-election to McGowan[16]
18 Thomas F. McGowan January 1, 1887 – May 1, 1887 Democratic
  • elected to a three-year term over Fleming[16][17]
  • fled to Canada after it became known that as Supervisor of the Town of Newtown, he stole about $19,500 in town money to cover his losses speculating in the stock exchange[16][18]
– Albert F. Cornelius May 1, 1887 – June 13, 1887 (acting) Democratic
  • became acting district attorney upon McGowan's fleeing to Canada[19][20]
19 John Fleming
(second term)		 June 13, 1887 – August 10 (acting)
August 10, 1887 – December 31, 1887 (interim)
January 1, 1888 – December 31, 1893		 Democratic
  • appointed by Judge Bartlett of the Queens County Court of Oyer and Terminer in place of McGowan[21]
  • appointed by Governor David B. Hill to fill McGowan's term for the remainder of the year[22]
  • elected to the remainder of McGowan's term[23]
  • elected to a three-year term[24]
  • lost re-election to Noble[25]
20 Daniel Noble January 1, 1894 – December 31, 1896 Democratic
  • defeated Fleming in election to a three-year term[25][26]
21 William J. Youngs January 1, 1897 – December 14, 1898 Republican
22 George W. Davison December 14, 1898 – January 2, 1899 (acting)
January 2, 1899 – December 31, 1899 (interim)		 Republican
  • became acting district attorney when Youngs resigned[29]
  • appointed by Roosevelt for the remainder of Youngs' term[30]
  • lost election to Merrill
23 John B. Merrill January 1, 1900 – December 31, 1902 Democratic
  • elected to a three-year term[31]
24 George A. Gregg January 1, 1903 – December 31, 1905 Democratic
  • elected to a three-year term[32]
25 Ira G. Darrin January 1, 1906 – December 31, 1908 Municipal Ownership League
  • elected to a three-year term[33]
  • did not run for re-election[34]
26 Frederick G. DeWitt January 1, 1909 – December 31, 1911 Democratic
27 Matthew J. Smith January 1, 1912 – December 31, 1914 Democratic
28 Denis O'Leary January 1, 1915 – December 31, 1920 Democratic
  • elected to two three-year terms[38]
  • lost to Wallace on his re-election attempt on the Fusion and Liberal tickets[39]
Republican
and Fusion
29 Dana Wallace January 1, 1921 – December 31, 1923 Republican
  • elected to a three-year term[39]
30 Richard S. Newcombe January 1, 1924 – December 31, 1929 Democratic
  • elected to two three-year terms[40][41][42]
  • did not run for re-election (ran for Surrogate instead, and won)[43][44]
31 James T. Hallinan January 1, 1930 – January 1, 1932 Democratic
  • elected to a three-year term[43][44]
  • resigned after election as a justice of the New York Supreme Court[45]
- Charles P. Sullivan January 1, 1932 – February 15, 1932 (acting) Democratic
  • became acting district attorney upon Hallinan's resignation[46]
32 Charles S. Colden February 15, 1932 – December 31, 1932 (interim)
January 1, 1933 – January 7, 1935		 Democratic
33 Charles P. Sullivan January 7, 1935 – December 31, 1951 Democratic
  • became acting district attorney again upon Colden's resignation[50]
  • appointed by Governor Lehman to fill Colden's vacancy for the remainder of the year?[51]
  • elected five times[52][53][54][55][56]
  • denied the Democratic nomination in the primary, ran on the Liberal and No Boss lines and lost[57][58]
34 T. Vincent Quinn January 1, 1952 – December 31, 1955 Democratic
  • elected to a four-year term[58]
  • lost to O'Connor in the Democratic primary election[59]
35 Frank D. O'Connor January 1, 1956 – December 31, 1965 Democratic
36 Nat H. Hentel December 31, 1965 – December 31, 1966 (interim) Republican
37 Thomas J. Mackell January 1, 1967 – April 23, 1973 Democratic
  • elected to serve the remainder of O'Connor's term[65]
  • elected to two four-year terms[66][67]
  • resigned after being indicted on charges of covering up an investigation into his investments and Governor Rockefeller began proceedings to remove him[68]
– Frederick J. Ludwig April 23, 1973 – May 9, 1973 (acting) Democratic
  • became acting district attorney when Mackell announced his resignation and went on vacation[68]
38 Michael F. Armstrong May 9, 1973 – December 31, 1973 (interim) Democratic
  • appointed by Governor Rockefeller for the remainder of the year to replace Mackell[69]
  • did not run for election
39 Nicholas Ferraro January 1, 1974 – December 31, 1976 Democratic
40 John J. Santucci January 1, 1977 – December 31, 1977 (interim)
January 1, 1978 – June 1, 1991		 Democratic
41 Richard A. Brown June 1, 1991 – December 31, 1991 (interim)
January 1, 1992 – May 4, 2019		 Democratic
– John M. Ryan May 4, 2019 – December 31, 2019 (acting) Independent
  • named acting district attorney by Brown for medical reasons, although Brown continued in an official capacity until his death[84][85]
  • did not run for election[86]
42 Melinda Katz January 1, 2020 – current Democratic
Close

References

External links

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI