Dan Satterberg

Born in Seattle, Satterberg graduated from Highline High School and the University of Washington.[2][1] He later earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law.

Satterberg 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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] In 2016, Satterberg successfully pushed for a voter approved amendment to King County Charter to make the office of Prosecutor nominally non-partisan.[6] Despite holding a non-partisan office, Satterberg made public in 2018 that his political views align with the Democratic Party.[7]

Since 2008, Satterberg has served on the State of Washington Sentencing Guidelines Commission under appointment by Governor Christine Gregoire.[8] He was the co-chairman, along with former Washington Attorney-General Rob McKenna, of the Washington Law Enforcement Group Against Identity Theft (LEGIT), a quasi-governmental organization that seeks to raise awareness about consumer data privacy issues in Washington.[9]

Satterberg decided not to bring charges against Officer Ian Birk [10] in the shooting of John T. Williams, a decision criticized by attorneys for the Williams family.[11]

In January 2022, Satterberg announced that he would not seek reelection when his current term expires.[12]