| The Office of Legal Policy (OLP) was established
by Attorney General William French Smith in 1981 as the principal Department
office to plan, develop, and coordinate the implementation of major policy
initiatives of high priority to the Department and to the Administration,
and to assist the President and the Attorney General in the Administration's
judicial selection process for Article III judges. OLP devoted considerable
efforts to the areas of criminal and civil justice reform, as had some
of its predecessor policy offices (among them, the Office of Criminal
Justice, the Office of Policy and Planning, and the Office for Improvements
in the Administration of Justice). OLP also supervised the work of the
Office of Information and Privacy (OIP) with respect to Freedom of Information
and Privacy Act matters.
In 1989, the office was renamed as the Office of Policy Development
(OPD), and OIP was established as a separate Department component. For
a one-year period, OPD was organized as a component of the newly-created
Office of Policy and Communications, together with the Office of Public
Affairs and the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. In 1993, that structure
was discontinued and OPD was established again as an independent component.
In May 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft restored the name of the
office as the Office of Legal Policy and confirmed its principal policy
role within the Department.
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