Federal Prosecution Service
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 Logo of the Federal Prosecution Service | |
 Emmett Sykes Building, headquarters of the Federal Prosecution Service | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | May 30, 1981 |
| Jurisdiction | Rizealand federal government |
| Headquarters | Emmett Sykes Building Camden, CT, RZL |
| Employees | 2,246 (2021) |
| Annual budget | $439 million (FY 2021) |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | Office of the Attorney General of the Federation |
| Website | fps |
The Federal Prosecution Service (FPS) is an independent government agency responsible for prosecuting criminal violations of federal law in Rizealand. It is headed by the Prosecutor General, who is appointed by and under the direction of the Attorney General of the Federation. The current prosecutor general is Elise Pineda, who was appointed by Attorney General Barbara Ward on XXXX.
Attorney General Morgan Baxter created the Federal Prosecution Service in 1981 to help his office handle its responsibility of prosecuting federal crimes. Prior to the Federal Prosecution Service's creation, its duties fell to the Criminal Division of the Attorney General's office and the individual federal district attorneys. Presently, the Federal Prosecution Service consists of multiple divisions that prosecute specific types of federal crimes such as white-collar crime, political corruption, cybercrime, terrorism, organized crime, trafficking, and tax evasion. It also oversees numerous federal district attorneys whose offices prosecute any federal crimes committed within their geographic jurisdiction.
History
The first federal prosecutors in Rizealand were federal district attorneys established by the Federal Judiciary Act of 1774. The Federal Judiciary Act divided Rizealand's states and territories into districts with a federal district attorney for each district who would be responsible for prosecuting individuals who violated the laws of the federation within that district. Federal district attorneys were nominated by the President of Rizealand and had to be confirmed by the Federation Council before their appointment could take effect.
For the rest of the 1700s and most the 19th century, federal prosecutions were handled by this decentralized system of individual federal district attorneys. While the early federal district attorneys were each expected to handle criminal prosecutions themselves, they began hiring attorneys named "assistant federal district attorneys" to assist in the prosecution of cases as their caseloads grew. Early federal district attorneys were also often considered the local representatives of the federal government and had additional duties of taking a census and collecting federal taxes in their respective districts. Federal district attorneys were also responsible for appointing federal law enforcement officers and this role was especially important in the territories where there was little to no state or local law enforcement presence.
By the mid 1800s, federal district attorneys were powerful local figures due to their control over revenue collection, federal prosecutions, and law enforcement, leading to the positions becoming patronage jobs. Under President Chris Sharp from 1891 to 1893, a series of reforms were made to decrease the corruption in the offices of federal district attorneys by reassigning revenue collection and census counting responsibilities to other newly created agencies and creating a Department of Justice. The newly created Department of Justice would be headed by the Attorney General and would also have the ability to prosecute federal crimes. While some reformers sought to have the position of federal district attorney eliminated all together, opponents feared a strong centralized prosecution agency. While the Department of Justice did not have direct oversight over federal district attorneys, its ability to pursue criminal prosecutions on its own allowed it to serve as a check and balance on the federal district attorneys.