What a District Attorney Really Does
June 7, 2026 · By Kyle Cabelka, President
I thought I knew what a District Attorney did, and then I became one. Most people learn what a District Attorney does from television. The camera finds the dramatic trial, the closing argument, the verdict read to a packed courtroom. That picture is true on rare days. It is also the smallest part of the work.
The larger part happens in offices and hallways, with case files and phone calls, long before any judge or juror walks into a courtroom. A prosecutor decides which cases the State will bring and which it will set down. That single decision carries more weight than any argument to a jury.
Read the full column
