Supervision of criminal prosecutions and civil penalty actions under these Acts is assigned to the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will refer all cases directly to the appropriate United States Attorney, except cases involving novel questions of law. The United States Attorney should advise the Chief Counsel, FRA of all significant developments in a case, including the filing of an information or complaint, the docket number, the arraignment, the trial date, the position taken by the railroad and, the proposed settlement of the case, etc. Copies of such correspondence should be furnished to the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division, when significant or unusual developments or matters are involved. The Criminal Division should, of course, be promptly notified of adverse decisions and of cases where an appeal is taken by the defendant.

Investigations of all cases arising under the railroad safety statutes are conducted by the Federal Railroad Administration.

[updated January 2020]