Article V, § 26 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 provides the district attorney with broad and sweeping powers as part and parcel of his role as the state's prosecuting attorney. "A district attorney is a constitutional officer who serves in the judicial branch and exercises a portion of the sovereign power of the state within the district of his office." Diaz, supra, 433 So. 2d at 701. "The district attorney has entire charge and control of every criminal prosecution instituted or pending in his district and determines whom, when and how he shall prosecute." State v. Perez, 464 So. 2d 737, 744 (La.1985). Furthermore, "there is no provision of law that defines or limits the type of cases a district attorney may prosecute." Id. See also State v. Sykes, 364 So. 2d 1293, 1297 (La.1978). Finally, [**10] the jurisdiction of the district attorney to prosecute those who violate state criminal statutes is exclusive; it can only be constrained or curtailed when it operates to the prejudice of a contrary constitutional mandate, and even then only with due deference to the district attorney's constitutional prerogative. City of Baton Rouge v. Short, 345 So. 2d 37, 40 (La.1977).