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About the Office

Our Mission

The mission of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee is to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; and to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice for the people of East Tennessee.

Who We Are:

We are the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, one of 94 United States Attorney’s Offices in the country. We are a part of the Department of Justice. Our District is the largest in the state of Tennessee, encompassing 41 of the 95 counties and spanning 420 miles. We serve over 2.6 million people.

What We Do:

We represent the interests of the United States, both criminal and civil, in federal court. It is our responsibility to enforce federal criminal laws. We work to prevent terrorism and promote the nation’s security. We are committed to preventing crime, enforcing federal laws, and representing the rights and interests of the American people. We strive to ensure the fair and efficient administration of justice for all Americans.

We prosecute those individuals and organizations that violate federal criminal statutes. We work with a multitude of federal, state, and local agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Park Service, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), The Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force, 15 Tennessee District Attorneys Generals, 11 Tennessee Judicial District Drug Task Forces, 41 County Sheriff’s offices, and 117 Chiefs of Police and their departments. We prosecute a wide-variety of offenses including domestic and foreign terrorism; child pornography and exploitation; civil rights violations; bank robbery and other violent crimes; firearms offenses; drug trafficking; health care fraud; immigration violations; public corruption; tax evasion; mail, bank and wire fraud; environmental offenses; and identity theft.

We also represent the United States in civil litigation, affirmative and defensive. As such, we sue individuals or entities who have violated federal civil laws. We also defend the interests of the United States when it, or one of its departments, agencies, or employees is sued, and we defend federal programs and agency actions.

We collect monies owed to the United States from forfeiture, restitution, and fines imposed as a part of the judgment in federal cases. We also pursue collection of civil debts owed to the United States, including student, small business, housing, and farm loans. Finally, we represent the interests of federal agencies in bankruptcy court.

Updated March 23, 2015