Robert J. Troester Assumes Role as Acting United States Attorney For The Western District Of Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY – On March 1, 2021, Robert J. Troester assumed the role as the Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, following the departure of U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing on February 28, 2021.  This is the fourth time Troester has held this position.

As Acting U.S. Attorney, Troester serves as the chief federal law enforcement officer responsible for all federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigation involving the United States in the Western District of Oklahoma, an area covering 40 counties and including 21 Indian tribes.

"It is an honor and privilege to represent the United States and lead the talented team in this office as we pursue justice for the people of Western District of Oklahoma," said Acting U.S. Attorney Troester.  "I will strive to further strengthen our partnerships with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to ensure the ethical, vigorous, fair and impartial enforcement of the laws of the United States."

Troester joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1995 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and held various management positions since 2002, including serving as First Assistant U.S. Attorney, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney, and Chief of the Civil Division. 

Throughout his 25-plus year career in the Department of Justice, Troester has served in various capacities within the Department. In 2020, he was Chair of the Victim Services Working Group for the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice.  From 2017 to 2018, he served as Associate Deputy Attorney General and Sr. Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General in Washington D.C. 

From 2018 to 2019, while serving as Acting U.S. Attorney, he served as Vice-Chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC) Civil Rights Subcommittee and as Vice-Chair of the AGAC Health Care Fraud Working Group.  In 2005, he was appointed by the Attorney General as the sole career member to serve a three-year term on the AGAC.

In 2011 and 2012, Troester also served on several short-term special projects with the DOJ Criminal Division’s Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training office and the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau, Moldova, to conduct a management and training needs assessment for Supervisory Prosecutors in the Moldova Prosecutor General’s Office, develop a training curriculum, and implement a training program in Moldova. 

Troester has served on two details to the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) in Washington D.C.  From 2001 to 2002 he served as Deputy Director for Legal Programs, and from 1999 to 2000 he served as the national Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) Coordinator. 

Prior to joining his federal service at the United States Attorney’s Office, Troester worked in private practice in Oklahoma City, in state government at the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, and in local law enforcement at the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office in Nebraska.

Troester received his Juris Doctorate from Oklahoma City University School of Law and his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.