Reporting Attorney Professional Misconduct and Related Law Enforcement Misconduct to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)

Department employees shall report to their supervisor any evidence or non-frivolous allegation that a Department attorney engaged in professional misconduct. Department employees also shall report to their supervisor any evidence or non-frivolous allegations of misconduct against Department law enforcement personnel that relate to allegations of attorney misconduct within the jurisdiction of OPR. Misconduct constitutes professional misconduct when it relates to an attorney’s responsibility to investigate, litigate, or provide legal advice. The supervisor shall evaluate whether the allegation is non-frivolous and the misconduct is of a serious nature; if so, the supervisor shall report the allegation to OPR through the component.  An employee may also report misconduct allegations directly to OPR. If the evidence or allegation concerns an Assistant United States Attorney, the supervisor also shall notify EOUSA General Counsel’s Office.

If the supervisor was involved in the alleged misconduct, the supervisor must bring the evidence or non-frivolous allegation of misconduct to the attention of a higher-ranking official regardless of whether the supervisor believes the misconduct to be of a serious nature.

Allegations of misconduct may be reported to OPR as follows:

Office of Professional Responsibility

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Room 3266

Washington, DC 20530

Telephone: (202) 514-3365.  Callers reporting allegations of misconduct should request to speak to the duty attorney.

Information about OPR's policies and procedures and analytical framework can be found at OPR's website:

https://www.justice.gov/opr/resources

.

The decision whether to conduct an investigation of a former employee is made on a case-by-case basis. OPR obtains the approval from the Office of the Deputy Attorney General before declining to investigate or terminating an investigation on the ground that an employee has left the Department.

[updated September 2018]