Organization
The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the federal court system and directed the President to appoint in each federal judicial district an attorney for the United States who is responsible for the prosecution of violations of federal laws and the litigation of civil matters involving the United States. There are 93 United States Attorneys throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
United States Attorneys conduct most of the trial work in which the United States is a party. The United States Attorneys have three statutory responsibilities under Title 28, Section 507 of the United States Code, including 1) the prosecution of criminal cases brought by the federal government; 2) the prosecution and defense of civil cases in which the United States is a party; and 3) the collection of debts owed the federal government which are administratively uncollectible.
Although the distribution of caseload varies between districts, each district has cases in these three categories, and handles a mixture of simple and complex litigation. Each United States Attorney exercises wide discretion in the use of his/her resources to further the priorities of their local jurisdictions and needs of their communities. United States Attorneys have been delegated full authority and control in the areas of personnel management, financial management, and procurement.
The Western District of Wisconsin consists of the western two-thirds of Wisconsin, an area encompassing 44 counties which includes the cities of Madison, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Wausau, Superior, Janesville and Beloit. The United States Attorney's Office is located in Madison and has a permanent staff of 48 people. Functionally, the office is divided into two litigation divisions - a Criminal Division and a Civil Division.
The Criminal Division prosecutes matters such as drug distribution, firearms offenses, terrorism offenses, bank robbery, mail fraud, counterfeiting, bank fraud and embezzlement, child pornography, tax evasion, and crimes occurring within federal installations such as Fort McCoy or the Federal Correctional Institution at Oxford. The Criminal Division also maintains a misdemeanor caseload, including traffic offenses, as well as offenses such as hunting and fishing violations, disorderly conduct, damage to federal property, and trespassing, which occur on federal lands such as the Nicolet and Chequamagon National Forests and Fort McCoy.
The United States Attorney is charged with determining when, whom, how and even whether to prosecute for apparent violations of federal law. The Constitution requires that federal felonies be charged by grand jury indictment. Current practice in the Western District of Wisconsin is to have one functioning grand jury, in session for two to four days per month.
The clients of the Civil Division are the various departments and agencies of the federal government. Types of cases range from defensive damage actions, bankruptcies, land condemnations, federal prisoner tort claims, Freedom of Information Act requests, collections, foreclosures, to affirmative litigation in which the United States is a plaintiff seeking civil penalties, monetary damages, and/or injunctive or declaratory relief, based on civil rights violations, environmental law violations, or fraud against the United States.
Both the Criminal and Civil Divisions are supported by two Computer Specialists responsible for the office's word processing, data processing, and communications systems; a Victim-Witness Coordinator who addresses the needs of crime victims; and a Law Enforcement Coordinator who works to develop and promote a policy of cooperation among federal agencies, state agencies, county sheriffs and prosecutors, multi-jurisdictional drug units, and local police departments. The Law Enforcement Coordinator also acts as the office's media contact, and in that capacity is responsible for distributing press releases issued by the office. In addition, the entire office is supported by the six members of the Administrative Division, which is responsible for administering the annual budget, purchasing, records, property, and supplies.