Office of Professional Responsibility

This article is about the Department of Justice unit investigating misconduct. For the Offices of Professional Responsibility of other U.S. federal agencies, see Office of Professional Responsibility (disambiguation).

Office of Professional Responsibility
Seal of the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility
Office overview
FormedDecember 8, 1975; 49 years ago (1975-12-08)[1]
JurisdictionDepartment of Justice
Headquarters950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., U.S.
38°53′35.52″N 77°1′30″W / 38.8932000°N 77.02500°W / 38.8932000; -77.02500
Office executive
  • Jeffrey R. Ragsdale[2], Director and Chief Counsel
Parent departmentDepartment of Justice
Websitejustice.gov/opr

The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), part of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and supervised by the FBI, is responsible for investigating lawyers employed by the Department of Justice who have been accused of misconduct or crime in the exercise of their professional functions.

History

The OPR was established in 1975 by order of then Attorney General Edward Levi, following revelations of ethical abuse and serious misconduct by senior DOJ officials during the Watergate scandal. The order directed OPR to "receive and review any information concerning conduct by a Department employee that may be in violation of law, regulations or orders, or applicable standards of conduct."[3]

Mission

OPR's primary mission is to ensure that DOJ attorneys perform their duties in accordance with professional standards.

The OPR promulgates independent standards of ethical and criminal conduct for DOJ attorneys, while the DOJ's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has jurisdiction of non-attorney DOJ employees.

The OPR receives reports of allegations of misconduct made against DOJ attorneys from many sources. Nearly half of all such allegations are reported to OPR by DOJ sources, such as the attorney involved.[4] The remaining complaints come from a variety of sources, including private attorneys, defendants and civil litigants, other federal agencies, state or local government officials, judicial and congressional referrals, and media reports. OPR gives expedited attention to judicial findings of misconduct.

The OPR reviews each allegation and determines whether further investigation is warranted. The determination is a matter of investigative judgment that weighs many factors, including the nature of the allegation, its apparent credibility, its specificity, its susceptibility to verification, and the source of the allegation. A decision to open a matter does not give rise to a presumption of misconduct, nor shift the burden of proof to the accused person. The OPR's investigations involve a wide range of allegations, and the investigative methods used vary accordingly.

In many cases, the OPR notifies the accused attorney and requests a written response. Sometimes, the OPR also makes on-site investigations. The OPR reports the results of the investigation to the component head concerned and to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. The OPR also advises the complainant and the accused attorney of its conclusion.

List of directors

No. Director Term
Portrait Name Took office Left office Term length
1
Michael Shaheen
Shaheen, MichaelMichael ShaheenDecember 8, 1975December 30, 199722 years, 22 days[1][5]
–
Richard Rogers
Rogers, RichardRichard Rogers
Acting		December 30, 1997May 21, 1998142 days[5]
2
H. Marshall Jarrett
Jarrett, H. MarshallH. Marshall JarrettMay 21, 1998April 8, 200910 years, 322 days[5][6]
–
Mary Patrice Brown
Brown, H. Mary PatriceMary Patrice Brown
Acting		April 8, 2009December 23, 20101 year, 259 days[6][7]
3
Robin Ashton
Ashton, RobinRobin AshtonDecember 23, 2010September 2018c. 7 years, 266 days[7][8]
4
Corey Amundson
Amundson, CoreyCorey AmundsonOctober 2, 2018September 30, 2019363 days[9][10]
–
Jeffrey Ragsdale
Ragsdale, JeffreyJeffrey Ragsdale
Acting		September 30, 2019May 19, 2020232 days[11]
5
Jeffrey Ragsdale
Ragsdale, JeffreyJeffrey RagsdaleMay 19, 2020Incumbent4 years, 221 days[11]

References

  1. ^ a b "Organization, Mission and Functions Manual: Office of Professional Responsibility". United States Department of Justice. 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  2. ^ "Meet the Counsel". www.justice.gov. January 22, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  3. ^ https://www.justice.gov/opr/about-opr USDOJ: Office of Professional Responsibility: About OPR
  4. ^ "USDOJ: Office of Professional Responsibility: OPR Process". Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "H. Marshall Jarrett appointed to head Office of Professional Responsibility" (Press release). United States Department of Justice. May 21, 1998. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Attorney General Eric Holder Names New Leadership for ATF, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, and Office of Professional Responsibility" (Press release). United States Department of Justice. April 8, 2009. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Attorney General Announces Appointment of Robin C. Ashton as Head of the Office of Professional Responsibility" (Press release). United States Department of Justice. December 23, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  8. ^ "Inspector General of the Intelligence Community Recognizes National Compliance Officer Day" (PDF) (Press release). Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. September 26, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  9. ^ "Department of Justice Announces Corey Amundson to Head the Office of Professional Responsibility" (Press release). United States Department of Justice. October 2, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  10. ^ Report to Congress on the Activities and Operations of the Public Integrity Section for 2019 (Report). Public Integrity Section.
  11. ^ a b "Attorney General William P. Barr Will Appoint Jeffrey Ragsdale to Head Office of Professional Responsibility" (Press release). United States Department of Justice. May 18, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2024.