The Revised District Attorney’s Office Act
Chief Sponsor & Author: County Executive T_xom
Co-Sponsors: Chairman coolguyperfect12, Councilman L5xtro
Preamble: To modernize the County District Attorney’s Office
Be it enacted by the Stapleton County Council,
§1. DEFINITIONS
(a) This bill shall be titled, “The Revised District Attorney’s Office Act”.
(b) The “District Attorney’s Office Regulation Act” shall be defined here.
(c) The “District Attorney Empowerment Act of 2024” shall be defined here.
(d) “City of Redwood” shall be defined by Article III, Section IV, Subsection B of the Stapleton County Charter. “‘District of Prominence” shall be defined by Article III, Section III, Subsection B of the Stapleton County Charter. “City of Arborfield” shall be defined by Article III, Section V, Subsection B of the Stapleton County Charter.
(e) Municipalities shall be defined as the City of Redwood, District of Prominence, and City of Arborfield.
(f) An ‘entity’ shall be defined as any department or office established by law, Executive Order, Mayoral Decree, or other applicable action in a specific municipality, or the county.
(g) A ‘Mayor’ shall be defined by Article III, Section I, Subsection C of the Stapleton County Charter.
(h) “An Act to Regulate Legal Practice” shall be defined here.
§2. NULLIFICATIONS
(a) The “District Attorney’s Office Regulation Act” shall be nullified in its entirety.
(b) The “District Attorney Empowerment Act of 2024” shall be nullified in its entirety.
§3. ESTABLISHMENT & RESPONSIBILITIES
(a) The Stapleton County District Attorney’s Office (“District Attorney’s Office” or “DAO”) shall be established as a new office of the Executive Branch of Stapleton County.
(b) The District Attorney’s Office shall be tasked with and responsible for:
(i) Prosecuting criminal cases on behalf of Stapleton County and its municipalities, in a manner compliant with relevant state law;
(ii) Defending Stapleton County, the County Executive, and departments and offices of Stapleton County in a court of law;
(iii) Defending employees of the Stapleton County government, including the Stapleton County Sheriff’s Office, Stapleton County Fire Department, and Stapleton County Port Authority in a court of law, when sued for incidents occurring during the execution of their official duties;
(iv) Defending Stapleton County’s municipalities in a court of law, should these municipalities not have their own attorneys, or should these municipalities specifically request the aid of the District Attorney’s Office;
(v) Performing investigations and/or audits of matters pertaining to Stapleton County, its municipalities, its departments and/or entities or the government officials of Stapleton County;
(vi) Performing investigations of matters pertaining to legislation of Stapleton County or its municipalities;
(vii) Assisting the County Executive of Stapleton County;
(viii) Assisting Stapleton County or its departments or entities, or government officials thereof, with legal advice.
(c) The District Attorney’s Office shall not be forced to accept cases on the basis of §3(b), unless directed otherwise by the County Executive. Furthermore, the entities and parties mentioned in §3(b) shall not be forced in any way to accept the services of the District Attorney’s Office.
(d) The County Executive shall be authorized to add tasks for the District Attorney’s Office and to allow the DAO to perform additional tasks, as long as these decisions do not infringe on other legislation of the State of Firestone or Stapleton County. This may be done via Executive Order, Memorandum, or other applicable means.
(e) The Stapleton County District Attorney’s Office shall have the authority to prosecute individuals on the basis of legislation and criminal offences of Stapleton County and its municipalities. The District Attorney’s Office may additionally prosecute individuals for the commission of criminal offences of the State of Firestone, should it be permitted to do so by relevant state law. However, the DAO should prioritize criminal offences of Stapleton County and its municipalities when determining which cases to prosecute.
(f) The District Attorney’s Office shall ensure that the departments and governments under / of Stapleton County and its municipalities are lawfully executing their duties, and shall take appropriate action if they are found not doing so.
§4. DAO STAFF
(a) The head of the Stapleton County District Attorney’s Office shall be the District Attorney, who shall be a member of the County Cabinet. The County Executive shall have the authority to appoint a District Attorney, with advice and consent of a simple-majority (½) vote of the Stapleton County Council.
(b) The District Attorney of Stapleton County shall have the authority to hire, manage and fire staff within the Stapleton County District Attorney’s Office. The District Attorney may hire up to three (3) Assistant District Attorneys, and an unlimited number of paralegals or other staff. All hirings must be approved by the County Executive prior to their occurrence.
(c) Should the office of District Attorney be vacant, should the District Attorney be on official leave or should other extraneous circumstances exist, the County Executive may designate an individual to serve as Acting District Attorney. The Acting District Attorney shall temporarily hold any and all powers designated to the District Attorney.
(d) The District Attorney and all Assistant District Attorneys shall be required to be in possession of an active bar certification, as defined in “An Act to Regulate Legal Practice”.
(e) The District Attorney may be dismissed by the County Executive with plausible reason, including but not limited to inactivity, illegal conduct, corruption, misconduct, ineptitude, failing to properly follow directives, violating an Executive Order, or failing to attend a Cabinet Meeting. Employees of the District Attorney’s Office may be dismissed by the District Attorney or County Executive for any plausible reason.
§5. AUDIT PROCEDURE
(a) The County Executive shall have the authority to order and oversee investigations and/or audits by the District Attorney’s Office based on §3(a)(v). The County Executive may restrict or end any investigations or audits, as long as the investigation or audit does not involve the County Executive. The Stapleton County Council shall have the authority to order investigations and/or audits by the District Attorney’s Office with a simple-majority (½) vote. The County Council shall furthermore have the authority to overturn any restrictions or orders pertaining to investigations and/or audits issued by the County Executive with a simple-majority (½) vote. The County Executive may give the District Attorney access to any information that they deem necessary for the completion of an investigation or audit, unless such information is classified or otherwise legally restricted.
(b) The District Attorney’s Office shall compile an investigation report after every investigation or audit, which shall – at least – specify the process and the findings of the investigation or audit. All reports shall be presented to the County Executive within twenty-four (24) hours after completion. The County Executive must, at least, inform the Stapleton County Council that an investigation or audit has concluded, and may choose to share certain details, or the entirety, of a report to the County Council or the general public. The County Council may order an investigation report to be presented to it with a simple-majority (½) vote.
(c) Should a portion of an investigation report be classified, the County Executive may choose to withhold only that portion from the County Council.
§6. DISTRICT ATTORNEY ACCESS
(a) The Mayors of the City of Redwood, City of Arborfield, and the District of Prominence shall be responsible for providing the District Attorney complete and full access to their municipality’s Discord communications server, to allow the District Attorney to view all channels and forms of communication, upon request of the District Attorney.
(b) The head of any County or Municipal entity shall be responsible for providing the District Attorney complete and full access to their entity’s Discord communications server, to allow the District Attorney to view all channels and forms of communication, upon request of the District Attorney.
(c) All SCSO:SWAT communications, or other classified or confidential information, shall be exempt from this section.
(d) The County Executive shall have access, upon request, to all operations of the District Attorney’s Office.
§7. ENACTMENT
(a) This legislation shall be enforced by the County Executive of Stapleton County, and all other relevant officials.
(b) This legislation shall go into effect immediately upon passing the necessary legal processes described by the County Charter.