A.   References.

B.   Definitions.

1. Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) means the Department of Justice ethics official the Attorney General appoints to administer, coordinate and manage the Department's ethics program. The Assistant Attorney General for Administration has been designated to serve as the DAEO.



2. Alternate Designated Agency Ethics Official (Alternate DAEO) means the person within the Department of Justice the DAEO appoints to carry out all of the functions of the DAEO, as necessary. The Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Law and Policy, Justice Management Division, shall be the Alternate DAEO.



3. Deputy Designated Agency Ethics Official (Deputy DAEO) means the person within each component to whom the DAEO delegates the responsibility and authority for the management of the ethics program within such component. The Deputy DAEO for each component shall be appointed by the DAEO, upon nomination by the Component Head.

   The Deputy DAEO for the Offices of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, Associate Attorney General, Solicitor General, and the Office of Public Affairs (Senior Management Offices) shall be the Director of the Departmental Ethics Office, unless another Deputy DAEO is appointed by the Attorney General.




4. Departmental Ethics Office (DEO) means the office established within the Justice Management Division to administer the ethics program for the Department of Justice.



5. Component Head means the official who directs the administration and operations of each Office, Board, Division, and Bureau, i.e., the principal organizational units of the Department of Justice. The Component Head for United States Attorneys and employees of their offices and for United States Trustees and employees of their offices shall be the Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys and the Director of the Executive Office for United States Trustees, respectively.



6. Notification and Retention Office means the Personnel Staff, Justice Management Division, except that the Bureau of Prisons; Drug Enforcement Administration; Executive Office for Immigration Review; Executive Office for United States Attorneys; Executive Office for United States Trustees; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Immigration and Naturalization Service; National Drug Intelligence Center; Office of the Inspector General; Office of Justice Programs; United States Marshals Service; and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives shall perform these functions for filers within their respective components.

C.   Policy.

1. Formal Determinations and Certification of Public Financial Disclosure Reports. The Agency Designee, as identified below, with the recommendation of the Deputy DAEO, will make Formal Determinations in writing where the ethics rules could be implicated and will certify Public Financial Disclosure Reports.

   Formal Determinations include a waiver of a financial interest; approval of acceptance of travel reimbursement; a determination under the impartiality standard; acceptance of certain awards; attendance at widely attended gatherings; and approval of outside employment or a waiver of the prohibitions on certain outside employment. There may be other situations where there is an ethics question that warrants a Formal Determination.




2. Agency Designees. The Agency Designees shall be:
   1. The Deputy Attorney General for the Associate Attorney General, the Solicitor General, Component Heads reporting to him, the Attorney General (except that the President grants waivers of financial interests for the Attorney General), and employees in the Office of the Attorney General;
   
   
   
   2. The Deputy Attorney General for determinations for all employees on paid practice of law and other outside employment generally prohibited;
   
   
   
   3. The Associate Attorney General for the Deputy Attorney General and for Component Heads reporting to him; and
   
   
   
   4. Component Heads for all employees within their components, except for those determinations granted to the Deputy Attorney General in paragraphs C.2.a. and b. above.

   The DAEO may act as Agency Designee for any employee and may take any other action necessary to the administration of the ethics program.

3. Redelegations. An Agency Designee and a Deputy DAEO may redelegate, with the concurrence of the DAEO, their authority and responsibilities under this Order. All redelegations (and any rescission thereof) shall be in writing and a copy shall be provided to the DEO.

D.   Documentation and Reporting

1. Review, Certification and Retention of Public Financial Disclosure Reports. The reports shall be reviewed, certified and retained in the following manner:
   
   
   1. The appropriate Notification and Retention Office shall notify the Deputy DAEOs of the obligation of new entrants (other than nominees), incumbents, and terminating employees to file Public Reports.
   
   
   
   2. Covered officials shall file their Reports for initial review with their Deputy DAEO who will endeavor to review the Reports within 30 days and submit them to the appropriate Agency Designee.
   
   
   
   3. After the review, which may require additional information from the filer, the Deputy DAEO shall sign the Report in the box titled OTHER REVIEWER and the Agency Designee shall sign the Report in the box titled DESIGNATED AGENCY ETHICS OFFICIAL if they believe the Report is complete and discloses no conflict of interest.
   
   
   
   4. In the case of Public Reports filed by Component Heads and officials holding positions subject to Senate confirmation, the Report shall be forwarded to the DEO for further review before transmittal to the appropriate Agency Designee.
   
   
   
   5. Nominees to Senate-confirmed positions file their Reports with the Executive Office of the President which forwards a copy of each Report to the DEO for concurrent review with the appropriate Deputy DAEO and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) after which the Director, DEO, shall sign the Report as the OTHER REVIEWER and submit it to the DAEO for certification.
   
   
   
   6. Requests for additional time in which to file Public Reports, for up to 45 days, shall be directed to the appropriate Agency Designee, who shall rule on all such requests.
   
   
   
   7. After review, the Reports shall be forwarded to the appropriate Notification and Retention Office with a copy transmitted to the filer.
   
   
   
   8. The Notification and Retention Office shall make Reports available for public inspection upon request, and shall retain them for six years.
   
   
   
2. Review, Certification, and Retention of Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports. DOJ employees performing the duties of positions designated to file a Confidential Report as new entrants and annually shall file their Reports with their Reviewing Officials, who are designated by Agency Designees. (The Attorney General will serve as the Agency Designee for employees of the Office of the Attorney General for purposes of the confidential disclosure system.) The procedures are as follows:
   
   
   1. Agency Designees shall designate the positions subject to confidential financial disclosure reporting and the Deputy DAEO shall review the designations by July 15 of each year and report any changes to the DEO.
   
   
   
   2. An employee who believes that his position has been improperly designated, may seek a review by written request to the DAEO within 30 days and the determination of the DAEO shall be final.
   
   
   
   3. Agency Designees shall ensure that new entrants and incumbent employees are notified of their obligation to file Reports or to file alternative conflict of interest statements.
   
   
   
   4. Requests for additional time in which to file Reports, for up to 90 days, shall be directed to the appropriate Agency Designee.
   
   
   
   5. Agency Designees shall designate Reviewing Officials with knowledge of the employees' assignments to collect, and review the Reports within 30 days of receipt.
   
   
   
   6. After the review, which may require additional information from the filers, the Reviewing Official shall sign the Reports if he believes that they are complete and disclose no conflict of interest.
   
   
   
   7. Deputy DAEOs shall notify the DEO when all Reports have been filed, reviewed, and signed.
   
   
   
   8. In the case of Reports filed by employees of the Senior Management Offices, the Director, DEO, or the Deputy DAEO appointed by the Attorney General, will perform a technical review, sign the Reports as the INTERMEDIATE REVIEWER and submit them to the appropriate Agency Designee who will sign as the FINAL REVIEWING OFFICIAL.
   
   
   
   9. All Reports filed shall be used for official agency purposes only, withheld from the public and retained for six years.
   
   
   
3. Reporting to the Office of Government Ethics. Requests for an additional 45 days to file a Public Financial Disclosure Report and requests for the waiver of the $200 late filing fee for Public Financial Disclosure Reports filed more than 30 days after the due date must be submitted to OGE through the DAEO. The DEO shall forward copies of Public Financial Disclosure Reports filed by the DAEO, and by nominees and officials holding positions subject to Senate confirmation to OGE after they have been certified. The DEO, upon receipt from the Deputy DAEOs, shall transmit to OGE, copies of: all waivers of financial interests; all written opinions pursuant to the conflict of interest laws; and all approvals of acceptance of travel reimbursement.

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Last Updated October 27, 2003
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