
By Patrick Madden
The top lawyer for the district may have to make his or her case before a new jury of peers...the voters. City lawmakers are considering a measure to make the D.C. Attorney General an elected position. Right now, the Attorney General is appointed by the mayor.
The bill's sponsor, Councilman Phil Mendelson, says the city's chief legal officer needs to be more independent from the executive branch and more accountable to the public. Plus, Mendelson says, four-year terms would provide stability as well.
"Currently our attorney general has the highest turnover rate of any attorney general's office in the country," says Mendelson.
The bill would also require the attorney general to be a registered voter in the district and have spent at least seven years as a member of the D.C. Bar.

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