Article IV, The District Charter

(a) The Chairman shall be the presiding officer of the Council. (b) When the Office of Mayor is vacant, the Chairman shall act in his stead. While the Chairman is Acting Mayor he shall not exercise any of his authority as Chairman or member of the Council.

(a) The Council, to discharge the powers and duties imposed herein, shall pass acts and adopt resolutions, upon a vote of a majority of the members of the Council present and voting, unless otherwise provided in this chapter or by the Council. Except as provided in the last sente…

(a) The Council, or any committee or person authorized by it, shall have power to investigate any matter relating to the affairs of the District, and for that purpose may require the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, papers, and other evidence. Fo…

(a) There is established the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia; and the Mayor shall be elected by the registered qualified electors of the District. (b) The Mayor, established by subsection (a) of this section, shall be elected, on a partisan basis, for a term of 4 year…

The executive power of the District shall be vested in the Mayor who shall be the chief executive officer of the District government. In addition, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, all functions granted to or vested in the Commissioner of the District of Columbia, as …

(a) The Mayor shall be the central planning agency for the District. He shall be responsible for the coordination of planning activities of the municipal government and the preparation and implementation of the District’s elements of the comprehensive plan for the National Capita…

There is hereby established within the executive branch of the government of the District of Columbia an Office of the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia (hereafter referred to as the “Office”), which shall be headed by the Chief Financial Officer of the District…

The Chief Financial Officer shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent, by resolution, of the Council. Upon confirmation by the Council, the name of the Chief Financial Officer shall be submitted to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives…

The Chief Financial Officer may only be removed for cause by the Mayor, subject to the approval of the Council by a resolution approved by not fewer than 2/3 of the members of the Council. After approval of the resolution by the Council, notice of the removal shall be submitted t…

Notwithstanding any provisions of this chapter which grant authority to other entities of the District government, the Chief Financial Officer shall have the following duties and shall take such steps as are necessary to perform these duties: (1) During a control year, preparing …

At all times, the Treasurer shall have the following duties: (1) Assisting the Chief Financial Officer in reporting revenues received by the District government, including submitting annual and quarterly reports concerning the cash position of the District government not later th…

For purposes of this part — (1) the term “Authority” means the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority established under § 47-391.01(a); (2) the term “control year” has the meaning given such term under § 47-393(4); and (3) the term “Dist…

Notwithstanding any provision of law or regulation (including any law or regulation providing for collective bargaining or the enforcement of any collective bargaining agreement), employees of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia, including person…

The Chief Financial Officer shall carry out procurement of goods and services for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer through a procurement office or division which shall operate independently of, and shall not be governed by, the Office of Contracting and Procurement estab…

(a) The judicial power of the District is vested in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Superior Court has jurisdiction of any civil action or other matter (at law or in equity) brought in the District and of any crimi…

(a)(1) A judge of a District of Columbia court shall be removed from office upon the filing in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals by the Tenure Commission of an order of removal certifying the entry, in any court within the United States, of a final judgment of conviction …

(a) Except as provided in § 1-204.34(d)(1), the President shall nominate, from the list of persons recommended by the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission established under § 1-204.34, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint all judges of the…

(a) There is established for the District of Columbia the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Commission”). The Commission shall consist of seven members selected in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b). S…

(a) The Attorney General for the District of Columbia shall be elected on a partisan basis by the registered qualified electors of the District. Nothing in this section shall prevent a candidate for the position of Attorney General from belonging to a political party. (b)(1) If a…

Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the fiscal year of the District shall, beginning on October 1, 1976, commence on the first day of October of each year and shall end on the 30th day of September of the succeeding calendar year. Such fiscal year shall also con…

(a) At such time as the Council may direct, the Mayor shall prepare and submit to the Council each year, and make available to the public, an annual budget for the District of Columbia government which shall include: (1) The budget for the forthcoming fiscal year in such detail a…

The Mayor shall prepare and include in the annual budget a multiyear plan for all agencies included in the District budget, for all sources of funding, and for such program categories as the Mayor identifies. Such plan shall be based on the actual experience of the immediately pr…

The Mayor shall prepare and include in the annual budget a multiyear capital improvements plan for all agencies of the District which shall be based upon the approved current fiscal year budget and shall include: (1) The status, estimated period of usefulness, and total cost of e…

The District of Columbia courts shall prepare and annually submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, for inclusion in the annual budget, annual estimates of the expenditures and appropriations necessary for the maintenance and operation of the District of Col…

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority established pursuant to Chapter 22 of Title 34 shall prepare and annually submit to the Mayor, for inclusion in the annual budget, annual estimates of the expenditures and appropriations necessary for the operation of the Authori…

The Council, within 70 calendar days, or as otherwise provided by law, after receipt of the budget proposal from the Mayor, and after public hearing, and by a vote of a majority of the members present and voting, shall by act adopt the annual budget for the District of Columbia g…

Notwithstanding the fourth sentence of § 1-204.46, to account for an unanticipated growth of revenue collections, the amount appropriated as District of Columbia funds under budget approved by Act of Congress as provided in such section may be increased — (1) by an aggregate amou…

Notwithstanding § 1-204.46(c), the Mayor, in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia may accept, obligate, and expend Federal, private, and other grants received by the District government that are not reflected in the budget as provided in such …

The Mayor shall implement appropriate procedures to insure that budget, accounting, and personnel control systems and structures are synchronized for budgeting and control purposes on a continuing basis. No employee shall be hired on a full-time or part-time basis unless such pos…

(a) Subject to the limitations in § 1-206.03 and except to the extent provided under § 1-204.24d, the Mayor shall have charge of the administration of the financial affairs of the District and to that end he shall: (1) Supervise and be responsible for all financial transactions t…

Except to the extent provided under § 1-204.24d, the Mayor shall: (1) Prescribe the forms of receipts, vouchers, bills, and claims to be used by all the agencies, offices, and instrumentalities of the District government; (2) Examine and approve all contracts, orders, and other d…

The General Fund of the District shall be composed of those District revenues which on January 2, 1975 are paid into the Treasury of the United States and credited either to the General Fund of the District or its miscellaneous receipts, but shall not include any revenues which a…

There is established an emergency cash reserve fund (“emergency reserve fund”) as an interest-bearing account (separate from other accounts in the General Fund) into which the Mayor shall make a deposit in cash not later than October 1 of each fiscal year of such an amount as may…

The District of Columbia shall conduct its financial management in accordance with a comprehensive financial management policy. The comprehensive financial management policy shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) A cash management policy. (2) A debt management p…

No contract involving expenditures out of an appropriation which is available for more than 1 year shall be made for a period of more than 5 years unless, with respect to a particular contract, the Council, by a two-thirds vote of its members present and voting, authorizes the ex…

Repealed Repealed.

(a) In accordance with subsection (b) of this section and except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the Mayor may reduce amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to independent agencies of the District of Columbia (including the Board of Education) for a fisca…

(a) There is established for the District of Columbia the Office of District of Columbia Auditor who shall be appointed by the Chairman, subject to the approval of a majority of the Council. The District of Columbia Auditor shall serve for a term of 6 years and shall be paid at a…

Concurrent with the submission of the District of Columbia budget to Congress each year (beginning with 2001), the Mayor shall develop and submit to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Sena…

Not later than March 1 of each year (beginning with 2001), the Mayor shall develop and submit to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committees on Appropriations of the House of…

Not later than March 1 of each year (beginning with 1997), the Chief Financial Officer shall develop and submit to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committees on Appropriatio…

Not later than fifteen days after the end of every calendar quarter (beginning with a report for the quarter beginning October 1, 1997), the Chief Financial Officer shall submit to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of Representatives, the Committee on …

In the case of any report submitted by the Mayor under this subpart for a fiscal year (or any quarter of a fiscal year) which is a control year under the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995, the Mayor shall submit the report to the …

(a)(1) Subject to the limitations in § 1-206.03(b), the District may incur indebtedness by issuing general obligation bonds to refund indebtedness of the District at any time outstanding, to finance the outstanding accumulated operating deficit of the general fund of the District…

(a) The Council may by act authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds for the purposes specified in § 1-204.61. Such an Act shall contain, at least, provisions: (1) Briefly describing the projects or categories of projects to be financed by the Act; (2) Identifying the ac…

(a) After each act of the Council of the District of Columbia under § 1-204.62(a) authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds has taken effect, the Mayor shall publish such act at least once in at least 1 newspaper of general circulation within the District together with…