---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 8856"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "8856"
heading: "Duties of United States attorney"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/8856"
units:
  - "Subtitle C — Navy and Marine Corps"
  - "Part IV — General Administration"
  - "Chapter 883 — Prize"
---

# §8856. Duties of United States attorney

- (a) The interests of the [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1) in a prize cause shall be represented by the [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1) attorney for the judicial district in which the prize cause is adjudicated. The [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1) attorney shall protect the interests of the [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1) and shall examine all fees, costs, and expenses sought to be charged against the prize fund.
- (b) In a judicial district where one or more prize causes are pending the [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1) attorney shall send to the [Secretary](/usc/10/8720.md?p=4) of the [Navy](/usc/10/8001.md?p=a-1), at least once every three months, a statement of all such causes in the form and covering the particulars required by the [Secretary](/usc/10/8720.md?p=4).

## Source credit

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 475, § 7656; renumbered § 8856, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 807(d)(9), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1837.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 7656 | 34 U.S.C. 1136. | R.S. 4619. |

The Act of March 3, 1899, ch. 413, § 13, 30 Stat. 1007, which repealed all laws authorizing the distribution of prize money to captors, rendered inoperative parts of R.S. 4619 relative to protection of captors’ interest. These parts are omitted from 34 U.S.C. 1136 and from the revised section.

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 7656 of this title as this section.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of amendments and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.