Allegations that non-Department attorneys or judges have committed misconduct shall be reported to OPR to determine whether to refer the allegation to appropriate disciplinary authorities. If OPR determines that a referral is appropriate, it will report the allegation to the disciplinary authority. Individual Department components or employees are not authorized to make such referrals.

[updated September 2018]

1-4.400 - Reporting Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Employee Misconduct to the Office of the Inspector General

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in the Department of Justice is a statutorily created independent entity whose mission is to detect and deter waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct in DOJ programs and personnel, and to promote economy and efficiency in those programs. The OIG investigates alleged violations of criminal and civil laws, as well as applicable regulations and policies, by DOJ employees and also audits and inspects DOJ programs. The Inspector General, who is appointed by the President subject to Senate confirmation, reports to the Attorney General and Congress.

Except with respect to attorney professional misconduct allegations, Department employees shall report to the OIG, to their appropriate supervisor, or to their component’s internal affairs office any evidence or non-frivolous allegation of: a violation of any law, rule, regulation, order; waste, fraud, or abuse; or criminal or serious administrative misconduct, or an investigation of allegations of criminal misconduct against any Department employee. If a Department employee reports an allegation of misconduct to a supervisor in the first instance, the supervisor shall evaluate whether the allegation at issue is non-frivolous, and, if so, the supervisor shall report it, through the component, to the OIG. See 28 C.F.R. § 0.29(b), (c). If the evidence or allegation concerns an EOUSA employee, the supervisor also shall notify EOUSA General Counsel’s Office.

Nothing in this section or Component policies and procedures should be interpreted to preclude an employee’s ability to report misconduct directly to OIG. Allegations of misconduct may be reported to the nearest OIG field office, through the online reporting form on the OIG’s website at oig.justice.gov, or as follows:

Mailing Address:

U.S. Department of Justice
Office of the Inspector General
Investigations Division
Attn: OIG Hotline
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530

Online: https://oig.justice.gov
Fax: (202) 616-9881
Telephone: (800) 869-4499

[updated January 2020]