The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is one of 62 district attorneys’ offices in New York State. Each of the district attorneys is an independently elected official. The powers and duties of the district attorney are outlined in the New York State County Law. The district attorney has broad discretion to determine how criminal cases will be prosecuted. In order to fulfill his responsibility, the district attorney appoints a number of assistant district attorneys to prosecute cases pursuant to the law and office prosecution policies.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office prosecutes cases that result from investigations and arrests made by 36 police agencies in Orange County. Those departments include three city police departments, 16 town police departments, 13 village police departments, the Orange County Sheriff, the New York State Police Troops F and T, the New York State Park Police, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police.

Of the more than 22,000 cases prosecuted annually, approximately 21,000 are prosecuted in one of Orange County’s 59 local criminal courts. Approximately 1,200 felony cases per year are prosecuted in county court.

In 2016, the authorized staff of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office included the district attorney, 49 assistant district attorneys, 13 investigators, and 22 clerical support personnel. All investigators are police officers certified in the state of New York.