Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan has formally published the 2026 Transition Committee Report, titled “Building a 21st Century DA’s Office,” marking a structural shift toward specialized enforcement, improved caseload efficiency, and heightened public accountability.
“I am thankful for the incredible work of the Transition Committee who have put hours into crafting these recommendations to help the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office reach new heights. Some of the Transition Committee’s recommendations have already been implemented successfully and we look forward to reviewing and adopting the remaining recommendations in the months to come.”
The groundwork for these changes began prior to the administration taking office. In the weeks leading up to District Attorney Khan being sworn in, an initial 11-member committee of seasoned attorneys launched an intensive internal assessment of the agency’s 100-plus employees and core organizational functions. The panel later expanded to 24 members, incorporating local legal practitioners, national subject-matter experts, and current staff who spent 120 days reviewing records and synthesizing feedback into 50 distinct operational recommendations.
The transition report details specific operational adjustments that the District Attorney’s Office has already begun actively executing across its divisions since January:
- To safeguard the integrity of public corruption and official misconduct inquiries, the office is establishing a distinct Special Investigations Unit (SIU). The unit utilizes a dedicated squad of detectives and prosecutors operating under an independent reporting structure to protect sensitive investigations.
- The DA’s Office is actively leveraging its civil and criminal authority to protect workers, consumers, and the environment. Ongoing actions under this expanded framework include the office’s recent enforcement litigation against a Dublin landlord over substandard multi-unit housing conditions, alongside a landmark expanded lawsuit targeting major social media corporations over deceptive practices affecting minors.
- DA Khan appointed Jack Slattery as Chief of County Detectives and assigned several veteran detectives to new leadership roles.
- To improve investigative efficiency, the Detective Division is being restructured around specific areas of expertise. Under this framework, lieutenants will supervise an equal number of detectives, making it easier to coordinate directly with prosecutors. Breaking a decade-long offsite separation, the Chief of Detectives and an active investigative squad are being relocated directly back into the Justice Center to ensure seamless, daily coordination with prosecutors.
- The office is to prioritize early resolution of cases at the Magisterial District Judge stage. Resolving appropriate low-level cases early reduces court backlogs, preserves prosecutors to focus on high-priority offenses, and has allowed the office to begin systematically clearing a long-standing backlog of property forfeiture cases.
- To protect older residents from predatory financial exploitation, the agency is integrating its Economic Crime, Civil Enforcement, and Special Victims units into a coordinated response. This strategy prioritizes swift civil enforcement actions to freeze assets targeted by phone, online, and home-improvement scammers before the funds can be moved out of reach.
To model immediate transparency, the transition findings are being published within the administration’s first 180 days. Moving forward, the report recommends that the agency issue a formal progress report within one year to publicly track implementation successes and maintain strict accountability to the public.
“We live in challenging times, in which people have lost faith in government at all levels. District Attorneys, particularly in Pennsylvania, are uniquely situated to rise above politics and take action to make peoples’ lives better. With the right team and the right plan, DA Khan can help restore that faith by showing Bucks County and all of Pennsylvania what a law office of the people can do to serve justice for all.” said Transition Team Co-Chair Tom Jennings.
A follow up progress report detailing the implementation of recommendations across the District Attorney’s Office is expected no later than one year from the release of the report.
Click here for the “Building a 21st Century DA’s Office: The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office 2026 Transition Report.”
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