What a district attorney decides
The answer
A district attorney decides who gets criminally charged, what charges to file, and whether to offer a plea deal, discretion that is almost entirely unreviewable by judges or police. Most DAs are elected at the county level, and while their offices are usually funded by the county budget, their charging decisions are not something the county board or the police can override. Most criminal cases resolve through a plea rather than a trial, which means it is the DA's charging and bargaining choices, not judges or juries, that resolve most cases.
How it actually works
The DA's core power is the charging decision itself. Once police make an arrest and refer a case, the DA's office decides whether to file charges at all, what level of charge to bring, and whether to reduce or dismiss counts as part of a plea agreement. This discretion extends to declining to prosecute entire categories of offense, a practice that became a flashpoint in several major cities in the early 2020s. DAs are independent of police, an officer cannot order a charge or a dismissal, and independent of local government generally, a mayor or county board cannot direct a specific charging decision. Most DAs are elected, in partisan or nonpartisan races depending on the state, typically to four-year terms, and funding usually flows through the county budget, but courts and legislatures have long treated charging discretion as belonging to the DA alone, not subject to line-item control by the funding body.
Alvin Bragg, sworn in as Manhattan DA in January 2022, issued a charging-policy memo directing prosecutors to decline or downgrade certain low-level charges, following a pattern set earlier by Los Angeles DA George Gascon and San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin.1 The two cities show different ends of the accountability lever. Boudin was removed by a recall election on June 7, 2022, with 55% of San Francisco voters supporting removal, and Mayor London Breed appointed Brooke Jenkins as his successor on July 8, 2022.2 Gascon, by contrast, was not recalled but lost his 2024 reelection bid outright, defeated by Nathan Hochman roughly 61.5% to 38.5% on November 5, 2024, an ordinary election rather than a mid-term removal.3
Who holds the power
The DA controls charging and plea decisions unilaterally. The county board controls the DA office's budget and staffing levels but cannot compel specific prosecutorial outcomes. Voters hold the ultimate check, through ordinary elections or, in states that allow it, a recall.
Where you come in
DA elections, ordinary and recall alike, are the main lever citizens have. Some DA offices publish charging and diversion data publicly, letting residents compare stated policy to practice. Community prosecution programs, where DA staff work directly with neighborhood groups on lower-level cases, exist in some jurisdictions as a supplementary access point.