Difference Between District Attorney's and City Attorney's Office In Criminal Cases
Many people need clarification when defining and figuring out the difference between a City Attorney and a District Attorney. The District Attorney is the head prosecuting officer who handles the filing of most felony cases in Los Angeles County.
They have Deputy District Attorneys, who are the lower-level district attorneys who serve under them. The City Attorney of Los Angeles County is somebody who is elected, and they usually deal with misdemeanor cases and city-related matters, like ordinance violations and lesser criminal cases like DUIs.
The difference is in the different types of cases that they prosecute. So, as far as the District Attorney goes, most of the courts in Los Angeles County staff the District Attorney's office, and there are about twenty-five different courts now.
There's one main District Attorney's office in downtown Los Angeles, actually in the criminal court building at 210 West Temple. The City Attorney's office has its own offices as well. They're in most of the courthouses.
There are a few examples of courthouses where there are only District Attorneys, and they prosecute both felonies and misdemeanors. But in most of the courthouses, there are both City and District Attorneys. Again, the District Attorneys usually prosecute the felonies—the more serious cases—and the City Attorneys usually prosecute the misdemeanors—the more community-based offenses.
So, there's a head City Attorney. There's a head District Attorney. There are Deputy City Attorneys. There are Deputy District Attorneys. I've been practicing for twenty-five years, so it's important to know the difference – to know which of the two entities prosecutes which cases.
Coordination Between Offices on Some Cases
Sometimes, they have to work together. Sometimes, the City and District Attorneys have to deal with a case in which both a felony and a misdemeanor are filed.
Sometimes somebody will be on misdemeanor probation and commit a felony, and then the City Attorney comes in and give their position on how they're going to deal with their probation violation, for example, so it has to be coordinated between the defense attorney and also the District Attorney. So, a lot of times the City Attorney and District Attorney will work side-by-side on certain cases in certain situations.
They are certainly in the same courthouse all the time, and they see each other. As a criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles County, you have to know how each of the branches—the City Attorney and the District Attorney—handles cases and works together.
For example, someone could be arrested for a crime and be booked for a felony. The crime could be a wobbler – meaning it could be filed as a misdemeanor or felony, so the District Attorney's office could reject the case, decide not to file it, but then send it to the City Attorney and say, this is a case you should file.
We're not going to mess with it. We don't think it rises to the felony level, but it's a misdemeanor, and then the City Attorney can handle it.
They could either file a criminal case and send it to the courtrooms that handle misdemeanor cases in the particular jurisdiction or courthouse, or they could hold a City Attorney hearing, where they have a hearing to determine whether or not they're even going to file the case in the first place.
So, there are all sorts of different intricacies regarding the relationship between the City Attorney and the District Attorney's office—how they file crimes and how they deal with defense attorneys.
There's a whole hierarchy in each of the offices. The City Attorney is the main person. They have an assistant. They have a bunch of Deputies. They have supervising City Attorneys in each of the courthouse branches.
The District Attorney is like a business. They have a head District Attorney and multiple Assistant district attorneys. They've got office heads. The Deputy District Attorney. There are over a thousand Deputy District Attorneys in Los Angeles, which I think is one of the biggest District Attorney's offices in the world.
So, if you have an issue and it centers around the City Attorney or the District Attorney, come to somebody like me who has been doing it a long time – deals with both the City Attorney and the District Attorney – negotiates with them, tries cases against them, and then you'll be able to get a feel for your issue – what can be done to help you and what makes sense under the facts and circumstances of your criminal case.
