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Update on DC Attorney General Election

This fall, the DC Council will decide whether voters will, for the first time, be choosing DC’s next Attorney General. This role, like other cabinet-level posts, has historically been filled by the Mayor, with the nominee being confirmed by the DC Council.

On July 10th, the Council completed its required first reading of the Elected Attorney General Implementation Amendment Act of 2013. In its current form, the bill would remove all DC Government agency attorneys from reporting to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and shift them into their constituent agencies, while delaying the first election of the Attorney General from 2014 to 2018. The amendment to the DC Charter that created the elected Attorney General—passed by a referendum in 2010—requires that the election take place after January 1, 2014, but does not specifically say it must go into effect in 2014.

The Mayor’s implementation proposal would also have removed the Child Support Services Division from OAG, but that transfer was removed from the legislation. In addition, a number of technical election requirements were passed as part of the legislation, dealing with campaign finance and nomination requirements. The bill will come back to the full Council for its required second reading after the Summer Recess ends in September.

 
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