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Excerpted from Wikipedia [Link] ...
United States Attorneys represent the U.S. federal government in United States district court.
There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. One U.S. Attorney is assigned to each of
the judicial districts, with the exception of Guam & the Northern Mariana Islands where a single
U.S. Attorney serves in both districts. Each U.S. Attorney is the chief federal law enforcement
officer within his or her particular jurisdiction.
U.S. Attorneys and their offices are part of the Department of Justice, and thus of the executive
branch of the government. U.S. Attorneys are supported by the Justice Department's Executive
Office for United States Attorneys.
The Office of the United States Attorney was first created by the Judiciary Act of 1789, which
provided for the appointment in each judicial district of a "Person learned in the law to act as
attorney for the United States ... whose duty it shall be to prosecute in each district all
delinquents for crimes and offenses cognizable under the authority of the United States, and
all civil actions in which the United States shall be concerned..."
The U.S. Attorney is appointed by and serves at the discretion of the President of the United
States for a term of four years, with appointments subject to confirmation by the Senate. A U.S.
Attorney shall continue in office, beyond the appointed term, until a successor is appointed
and qualified. (see 28 U.S.C. § 541)
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