Dan Satterberg


Daniel T. Satterberg is the prosecuting attorney of King County, Washington, United States, an office he has held since 2007.

Personal life

Satterberg graduated from Highline High School and the University of Washington. During his undergraduate education at the University of Washington, Satterberg pledged Delta Upsilon Fraternity, class of 1982. He went on to receive the J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law, following which he began work in the King County Prosecutor's office. There he spent four years as a trial attorney in the Criminal Division before serving as Chief of Staff to then-Prosecutor Norm Maleng from 1990 to 2007.

Political career

Elected offices

In May 2007 King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng unexpectedly died of a heart attack. Because Maleng had been elected as a moderate Republican, his successor was nominated by the King County Republican Central Committee. Satterberg was appointed by the King County Council to fill the position until a special election was held in November 2007. That November, Satterberg was elected to fill the remaining three years of Maleng's term. He subsequently won election as a Republican to a full four-year term in 2010. In 2016, Satterberg successfully pushed for a voter approved amendment to King County Charter to make the office of Prosecutor nominally non-partisan. Despite holding a non-partisan office, Satterberg made public in 2018 that his political views align with the Democratic Party.

Appointed offices

Since 2008 Satterberg has served on the State of Washington Sentencing Guidelines Commission under appointment by Governor Christine Gregoire. He was the co-chairman, along with former Washington Attorney-General Rob McKenna, of the Washington Law Enforcement Group Against Identity Theft, a quasi-governmental organization that seeks to raise awareness about consumer data privacy issues in Washington.

Notable decisions

Shooting of John T. Williams

Satterberg decided not to bring charges against Officer Ian Birk in the controversial shooting of John T. Williams, a decision criticized by attorneys for the Williams family.