United States Trustee Program
Encyclopedia
The United States Trustee Program is an agency of the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

 that is responsible for overseeing the administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

 of bankruptcy
Bankruptcy in the United States
Bankruptcy in the United States is governed under the United States Constitution which authorizes Congress to enact "uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States." Congress has exercised this authority several times since 1801, most recently by adopting the Bankruptcy...

 cases and private trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...

s. The applicable federal law is found at 28 U.S.C. § 586 and 11 U.S.C.
Bankruptcy Code
Bankruptcy Code may refer to:*Bankruptcy in Canada*Bankruptcy in the United States or Title 11 of the United States Code *Bankruptcy in China*Bankruptcy in the United Kingdom...

 § 101, et seq.

In addition to the twenty-one United States Trustees, the program is administered by the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees (EOUST), located in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, and 95 field offices. The United States Trustee is the federal official charged with enforcing civil bankruptcy laws in the United States.

Overview

The United States Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...

 generally appoints a separate United States Trustee for each of twenty-one geographical regions for a five year term. Each United States Trustee is removable from office by and works under the general supervision of the Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...

 (see and ). Each United States Trustee, an officer of the Department of Justice, is responsible for maintaining and supervising a panel of private trustees for Chapter 7
Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 7 of the Title 11 of the United States Code governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States...

 bankruptcy cases (see ). The United States Trustee has other duties including the oversight of administration of most bankruptcy cases and trustees (see generally 28 U.S.C. § 586(a)(3)).

Each of the twenty-one regional U.S. Trustees maintains an office in each judicial district within the trustee's region, except for Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

 and North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, which are not administered by the U.S. Trustee program.

The U.S. Trustee does not have prosecution powers, but is required by law to refer information regarding potential criminal
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...

 violations of bankruptcy laws to the United States Attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...

.

Interim trustee
Interim trustee
Interim trustee is a term of art in section 701 of the Bankruptcy Code, Title 11 of the United States Code.When a case under Chapter 7 of the Code is commenced, the United States Trustee immediately appoints an interim trustee for that case...

s serve by the U.S. Trustee's appointment in Chapter 7 cases. Generally the interim trustee is assigned at random from a "panel" of qualified individuals at the time a bankruptcy case is filed, and is automatically appointed as the "permanent" case trustee after the first meeting of creditors.

Due to the relative infrequency of filing of petitions for Chapter 12 (family farmer debt adjustment) relief, trustees for these cases are typically appointed on an ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....

basis.

Each judicial district has one or more Standing Chapter 13 Trustees. The Standing Trustees are responsible for the administration of all Chapter 13 cases filed in their judicial district.

If for any reason all panel and/or standing trustees are disqualified or unable to perform, the U.S. Trustee may serve as trustee for a particular case under Chapter 7, 12 or 13. This very rarely happens.

The U.S. Trustee's office conducts the first meeting of creditors in a Chapter 11 case. Most Chapter 11's do not require the appointment of a trustee: however, in those cases which do, the U.S. Trustee oversees the appointed trustee's handling of the case and, for good cause, can seek the removal or replacement of the trustee. The U.S. Trustee may not, however, serve as the case trustee in Chapter 11. Along with the creditors committees, the U.S. Trustee acts as the primary "watchdog" to ensure compliance with the Bankruptcy Code
Bankruptcy Code
Bankruptcy Code may refer to:*Bankruptcy in Canada*Bankruptcy in the United States or Title 11 of the United States Code *Bankruptcy in China*Bankruptcy in the United Kingdom...

 in cases where no trustee has been appointed.

Accounting staffers within the Trustee's office review all debtor filings, and monitor trustee and attorney fees in all cases. Attorneys employed by the Trustee represent the office in United States bankruptcy court
United States bankruptcy court
United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. They function as units of the district courts and have subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal district courts have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all cases arising...

 and pursue civil sanctions for some egregious violations of the law in Chapter 7, 12 and 13 cases.

Executive Office for United States Trustees

The Executive Office for United States Trustees (EOUST) is part of The United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

 (DOJ). The EOUST is the component of the Department of Justice responsible for overseeing the administration of bankruptcy cases and private trustees. The responsibility of the EOUST as the top level office controlling DOJ attorneys who monitor conduct in U.S. Bankruptcy Courts is analogous to that of The Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) as responsible for prosecutors of the DOJ. The current Director of the Office is Clifford J. White III.

In contract with the EOUSA, the EOUST maintains indirect publicity and refers to its offices as the "U.S. Trustee Program".

Criminal referral

When a government attorney working at the EUOST or any of its regional or field offices observes or suspects any criminal activity, it must be referred to the United States Attorney's Office in the District in which the suspected crime occurred. The official policy of the EOUST is to include a review of such criminal referrals as part of the employee evaluation for each DOJ attorney employeed as a U.S. Trustee.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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