About the Districts of Guam & the Northern Mariana Islands

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Guam and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of the Northern Mariana Islands are two of 94 United States Attorney’s Offices nationwide. The two districts share a single United States Attorney.

The United States is divided into 94 federal judicial districts.  Within each district, a United States Attorney serves as the chief federal law enforcement officer.  U. S. Attorneys and their Assistant U. S. Attorneys conduct most of the trial work in which the United States is a party.  U. S. Attorneys are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the U. S. Senate, and they serve under the direction of the U. S. Attorney General.  Each U. S. Attorney exercises wide discretion in the use of his or her resources to further the priorities of the local jurisdictions and needs of their communities.

The United States Code delegates three statutory responsibilities to U.S. Attorneys under Title 28, Section 547:

·         The prosecution of criminal cases brought by the Federal government;
·         The prosecution and defense of civil cases in which the United States is a party; and
·         The collection of debts owed the Federal government which are administratively uncollectible.

United States Attorneys Offices prosecute violations of federal crimes occurring in our district.  Although criminal prosecutions are our most visible function, much of our caseload is handled by our civil division.

Some examples of federal criminal cases include terrorism, human trafficking, major drug trafficking operations, internet child pornography, interstate kidnappings, financial fraud, tax fraud, health care fraud, counterfeiting, civil rights, immigration crimes, organized crime and public corruption.

Our civil division provides legal representation to the federal government, its agencies and employees in civil court actions.  Civil matters range from defending the federal government against a claim by an individual, a group of individuals, a corporation or even an entire state.  In addition, our monetary penalties unit serves as a collection agent for judgments taken on debts to the federal government, including delinquent loans and unpaid fines.

**Updated as of 08/31/2020**