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Former United States Attorneys

Safe Exit

The United States Attorney


“The United States Attorney
is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy,
but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is
as compelling as its obligation to govern at all;
and whose interest, therefore,
in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case,
but that justice shall be done.
As such, he [or she] is in a peculiar and very definite sense the
servant of the law, the twofold aim of which
is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer.
He [or she] may prosecute with earnestness and vigor-
indeed, he [or she] should do so.
But, while he [or she] may strike hard blows,
he [or she] is not at liberty to strike foul ones.
It is as much his [or her] duty
to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce
a wrongful conviction as it is
to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one.”

Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78 (1935)


Former United States Attorneys1

Stephanie S. Christensen^ 07/11/2022 - 09/16/2022
Tracy L. Wilkison^ 01/09/2021 - 07/01/2022
Nicola T. Hanna* 01/05/2018 - 01/08/2021
Sandra R. Brown^ 03/10/2017 - 01/04/2018
Eileen M. Decker* 06/11/2015 – 03/10/2017
Stephanie Yonekura^ 08/08/2014 - 06/10/2015
André Birotte, Jr.* 03/04/2010 – 08/08/2014
George S. Cardona^ 09/02/2009 – 03/03/2010
Thomas P. O’Brien* 10/05/2007 - 09/01/2009
George S. Cardona 11/18/2006 – 10/04/2007
Debra Wong Yang* 05/20/2002 - 11/17/2006
John S. Gordon 04/21/2001 – 05/17/2002
Alejandro N. Mayorkas* 12/21/1998 - 04/20/2001
Nora M. Manella* 01/03/1994 - 12/20/1998
Terree Bowers 09/09/1992 - 01/02/1994
Lourdes G. Baird* 07/20/1990 - 09/08/1992
Robert L. Brosio 12/01/1989 - 07/20/1990
Gary A. Feess 06/16/1989 - 11/30/1989
Robert C. Bonner* 02/15/1984 - 06/16/1989
Alexander H. Williams, III 07/29/1983 - 02/15/1984
Stephen S. Trott* 12/28/1981 - 07/29/1983
Alexander H. Williams, III^ 12/11/1981 - 12/28/1981
Andrea S. Ordin* 10/21/1977 - 12/11/1981
Robert L. Brosio^ 07/25/1977 - 10/20/1977
William D. Keller* 01/06/1972 - 10/20/1977
Robert L. Meyer* 05/18/1970 - 01/01/1972
William Matthew Byrne, Jr.* 03/26/1967 - 05/18/1970
John K. Van de Kamp* 11/04/1966 - 03/25/1967
Manuel L. Real*2 11/12/1964 - 11/03/1966
Thomas R. Sheridan 10/15/1962 - 11/12/1964
Francis C. Whelan 04/27/1961 - 10/14/1964
Laughlin E. Waters 07/31/1953 - 04/27/1961
Walter Binns 12/03/1951 - 07/31/1953
Ernest A. Tolin 10/26/1949 - 12/03/1951
James M. Carter 06/17/1946 - 10/25/1949
Charles H. Carr 06/01/1943 - 06/15/1946
Leo V. Silverstein 09/04/1942 - 05/31/1943
William Fleet Palmer 07/01/1940 - 09/03/1942
Ben Harrison 08/14/1937 - 06/30/1940
Peirson M. Hall 05/01/1933 - 08/13/1937
John Rose Laying 03/08/1933 - 05/01/1933
Samuel W. McNabb 02/02/1925 - 03/01/1933
Joseph C. Burke 12/22/1921 - 02/01/1925
J. Robert O’Conner 10/02/1917 - 12/21/1921
Albert Schoonover 07/28/1913 - 10/01/1917
Oscar Lawler 12/19/1905 - 04/18/1909
Louis H. Valentine 12/17/1901 - 12/18/1905
Frank P. Flint 04/08/1897 - 12/16/1901
George J. Denis 03/30/1893 - 04/07/1897
Matthew T. Allen 01/29/1892 - 03/29/1893
Aurelus H. Hutton 08/14/1889 - 02/05/1890
George J. Denis 05/08/1888 - 08/12/1889

1 Presidentially appointed United States Attorneys are noted with an asterisk (*) after their name. Acting United States Attorneys are designated by a caret sign (^).

2 On September 18, 1966, the Central District of California was created from portions of the Southern District of California.

Updated July 17, 2023