R. Seth Williams

R. Seth Williams Philadelphia District Attorney R. Seth Williams is the District Attorney for the City and County of Philadelphia. He is the first AfricanAmerican District Attorney in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s history. District Attorney Williams’ mission for the 600 women and men of the Office, including approximately 300 Assistant District Attorneys, is to be Smart on Crime. Williams led Philadelphia in implementing a modern justice system by completely overhauling the Office’s Charging Unit, greatly expanding the number of diversion programs and creating a wide-range of alternative sentencing options for nonviolent offenders. In 2010, Williams established geographic bureaus within the office that correspond to the city’s police districts, thus creating vertical prosecution. Under Williams’ leadership, the Office handles about 75,000 criminal cases a year ranging from minor offenses to felonies, including sexual assaults and murders. Williams and the District Attorney’s Office played an instrumental role in helping the City receive a $3.5 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation, whose objective is to reduce the non-violent prison population by 34 percent. Williams regularly visits schools to talk about the dangers of bullying and the importance of staying in school. Additionally, in partnership with the Philadelphia Police Department and the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, Williams launched a prescription drug drop off program in which with drop-boxes are installed inside most city police districts. To date, the program has taken hundreds of pounds of unwanted and unused prescription drugs out of medicine cabinets and off the streets to help reduce deaths associated with opioid addiction. Williams was placed in foster care as an infant. He was later adopted by a devoted and loving family and grew up in a hard-working, West Philadelphia Cobbs Creek neighborhood. As the only child of Imelda Williams and the late Rufus O. Williams, he learned the importance of community service. Williams was sworn in on January 4, 2010 as Philadelphia’s 24th District Attorney and was re-elected for a second four-year term in 2014. He is most proud of his three daughters Alyssia, Taylor and Hope, and lives in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia.