Subject to the general principles contained herein, either the Civil Rights Division or a United States Attorney’s Office may investigate and prosecute on its own any type of criminal civil rights violation.

At the outset of a criminal investigation initiated by a United States Attorney’s Office that may implicate federal criminal civil rights statutes, including 18 U.S.C. § 2243(b) and (c), and human trafficking and involuntary servitude statutes, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1581 to 1594, and in no event later than ten days before the commencement of the examination of witnesses before a grand jury, the United States Attorney’s Office shall advise the Civil Rights Division in writing of the new investigation. The notification should be in writing and contain the following information: (1) identity of the targets of the investigation; (2) the factual allegations under investigation; (3) the statutes that may have been violated; (4) the United States Attorney’s Office’s assessment of the significance of the case and whether the case is one of “national interest,” as defined below; and (5) the United States Attorney’s Office’s proposed staffing of the matter, including whether a Civil Rights Division attorney should be assigned to work directly on the matter. The United States Attorney’s Office will advise the Civil Rights Division as the case develops of new information relating to the United States Attorney’s Office’s assessment of the case and whether it is one of “national interest.”

When an attorney from the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division is jointly working on a case, notification to that attorney is sufficient. If there is no attorney from the Criminal Section assigned to the case, notification should be made to the Deputy Chief who has supervisory authority over cases in the district conducting the investigation or to the Principal Deputy Chief. In cases involving human trafficking or involuntary servitude, notification under this provision shall be made to the Criminal Section’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit at HTPU@usdoj.gov.

Similarly, at the outset of a criminal investigation initiated by the Civil Rights Division, the Division should notify the United States Attorney(s) for the district(s) in which the conduct occurred in writing of the new investigation, containing the above information.

In cases involving sex trafficking of minors in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1591, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Criminal Division should also be notified.

The staffing proposal of the United States Attorney will be given deference by the Civil Rights Division. If the Civil Rights Division does not express disagreement with a staffing proposal by the United States Attorney within three business days, the proposal is deemed acceptable. The Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division retains the final and on-going authority to determine the staffing of any criminal civil rights matter that is being handled jointly.

[updated December 2022] [cited in JM 8-3.200; JM 9-2.400; JM 9-75.030]