District attorney

District attorney, state or municipal official in charge of prosecuting criminal cases. The district attorney may be either elected or appointed. After the police make an arrest, the district attorney decides whether there are sufficient grounds to prosecute. To proceed, he or she normally must first obtain an indictment from a grand jury, although some states have abolished the grand jury and allow the district attorney to issue an indictment on his or her own initiative. He or she then gathers evidence and prepares the case against the defendant.