The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in eight New York state counties: New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan. Preet Bharara, who was appointed by Barack Obama in 2009 was the U.S. Attorney for the District until March 11, 2017, after being fired by President Donald Trump shortly after refusing to resign upon request. Bharara had taken over the post from Lev L. Dassin, who was acting as the interim U.S. Attorney after Michael J. Garcia, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005, stepped down in December 2008 to join the partnership of New York law firm Kirkland & Ellis. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has jurisdiction over all cases prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney.
The New York Times has called the office "one of New York City's most powerful clubs." Dozens of former assistant U.S. attorneys who worked there go on to prominent careers both in private practice and at the federal level.
Because of the office's resources, pursuit of high-profile cases, independence from presidential administrations and transitions, and tenacity, it is sometimes referred to as the "Sovereign District of New York"—sometimes along with its accompanying FBI field office.
The Office is organized into divisions handling civil and criminal matters. The Southern District of New York also has two offices: one in Manhattan, and one in White Plains. The Office employs approximately 220 Assistant U.S. Attorneys.
In 1814, the District of New York was divided into the Northern and the Southern District. The next year, the first U.S. Attorneys for the new districts were appointed.
Jonathan Fisk: 1815 - 1819Robert L. Tillotson: 1819 - 1828John Duer: 1828 - April 1829James A. Hamilton: April 1829 - 1834William M. Price: 1834 - December 10, 1838Benjamin F. Butler: December 10, 1838 – 1841Ogden Hoffman: 1841 - 1845Benjamin F. Butler: 1845 - 1848Charles McVean: Sept. - Dec. 1848Lorenzo B. Shepard: Dec. 1848 or Jan. 1849 - April 1849Jonathan Prescott Hall: April 1849 - 1853Charles O'Conor: 1853 - 1854John McKeon: 1854 - 1858Theodore Sedgwick: 1858 - 1859James I. Roosevelt: 1859 - 1861E. Delafield Smith: April 1861 - April 1865Daniel S. Dickinson: April 1865 - April 12, 1866Samuel G. Courtney: April 1866 - April 25, 1869Edwards Pierrepont: April 25, 1869 - July 20, 1870Noah Davis: July 20, 1870 - December 31, 1872George Bliss, Jr.: December 31, 1872 – January 24, 1877Stewart L. Woodford: January 24, 1877 - March 12, 1883Elihu Root: March 12, 1883 - July 6, 1885William Dorsheimer: July 6, 1885 - March 1, 1886Stephen A. Walker: March 1, 1886 - September 16, 1889Edward J. Mitchell: September 16, 1889 - February 1, 1894Henry C. Platt (Acting): February 1, 1894-July 23, 1894Wallace Macfarlane: July 23, 1894 - January 1898Henry Lawrence Burnett: January 1898 - January 1906Henry L. Stimson: January 1906 - April 8, 1909Henry A. Wise: April 8, 1909 - May 7, 1913Hudson Snowden Marshall: May 7, 1913 – 1917Francis Gordon Caffey: 1917 - June 1921William Hayward: June 1921 - March 2, 1925Emory Buckner: March 2, 1925 - April 6, 1927Charles H. Tuttle: April 6, 1927 - September 29, 1930Robert E. Manley (Acting): September 29, 1930 - January 1931George Z. Medalie: January 1931 - November 21, 1933Thomas E. Dewey (Acting): November 22, 1933 - December 26, 1933Martin Conboy: December 26, 1933 - May 16, 1935Francis William Holbrooke Adams (Acting): May 16, 1935 - November 20, 1935Lamar Hardy: November 20, 1935 - March 1939Gregory Francis Noonan: 1938? - 1939John T. Cahill: March 1939 - March 1941Mathias F. Correa (Acting): March 1941 - July 1941Mathias F. Correa: July 1941 - June 10, 1943Howard F. Corcoran (Acting): June 10, 1943 - August 2, 1943-James B. M. McNally August 2, 1943 - October 9, 1944John F. X. McGohey (Acting): October 9, 1944 - January 1945John F. X. McGohey: January 1945 - October 1949Irving Saypol (Acting): October 1949 - April 13, 1950Irving Saypol: April 13, 1950 - September 18, 1951Myles J. Lane: September 18, 1951 - April 1, 1953J. Edward Lumbard: April 1, 1953 - July 11, 1955Lloyd F. MacMahon (Interim): July 11, 1955 - September 1, 1955Paul W. Williams: September 1, 1955 - July 9, 1958Arthur H. Christy (Acting): July 9, 1958 – 1959S. Hazard Gillespie, Jr.: 1959 - January 31, 1961Morton S. Robson (Acting): January 31, 1961 - April 18, 1961Robert M. Morgenthau: April 18, 1961 - 1962 (resigned to run for Governor in New York state election, 1962)Vincent Lyons Broderick (Acting): 1962Robert M. Morgenthau: 1962 - January 16, 1970 (re-appointed by President Kennedy)Whitney North Seymour, Jr.: January 16, 1970 - June 4, 1973Paul J. Curran: June 4, 1973 - October 31, 1975Thomas J. Cahill (Interim): October 31, 1975 - March 1, 1976Robert B. Fiske: March 1, 1976 – 1980William M. Tendy (Acting): 1980John S. Martin, Jr.: 1980 - June 3, 1983Rudolph Giuliani: June 3, 1983 - January 1, 1989Benito Romano (Interim): January 1, 1989 - October 16, 1989Otto G. Obermaier : October 16, 1989 - June 1993Mary Jo White: June 1993 - January 7, 2002James B. Comey: January 7, 2002 - December 15, 2003David N. Kelley (Interim): December 15, 2003 - September 2005Michael J. Garcia: September 2005 - December 1, 2008Lev L. Dassin (Acting): December 1, 2008 - August 13, 2009Preet Bharara: August 13, 2009 – March 11, 2017Joon H. Kim (Acting): March 11, 2017 -Bob Arum - Boxing promoterNeil Barofsky - Special Inspector General overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief ProgramBernard Bell - Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor of Law and Herbert Hannoch Scholar at Rutgers School of Law–NewarkThomas E. Dewey - Governor of New York (1943–1954) and the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidency in 1944 and 1948Louis Freeh - former director, Federal Bureau of InvestigationPatrick Fitzgerald - U.S. Attorney, Northern District of IllinoisFelix Frankfurter - Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme CourtRudolph Giuliani - former Mayor of New YorkJohn Marshall Harlan II - Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme CourtArthur L. Liman - criminal defense attorneyMichael Mukasey - former U.S. Attorney GeneralThomas Francis Murphy - federal prosecutor and judge in New York City; prosecutor in the two perjury trials of Alger HissCharles Rangel - U.S. Congressman (D-NY)Henry Dwight Sedgwick - American lawyer and authorFranklin A. Thomas - former director, Ford Foundation
