Headquarters Divisions and Departmental Offices

The Office of the Solicitor’s Headquarters in Washington, DC, has seven divisions, the Departmental Ethics Office, the Departmental FOIA Office, and the Indian Trust Litigation Office.

  • Two wood ducks at LaCreek National Wildlife Refuge
    Under the direction of an Associate Solicitor, the Division of Administration is responsible for providing and coordinating all management, operational and administrative services required by the Office of the Solicitor (SOL).

    Division of Administration

  • Lush green rainforest in the Pacific Northwest
    The Division of General Law is responsible for administrative and general legal matters including acquisition, information law, tort claims, insular areas, employment and labor law, legislative and appropriations issues and intellectual property.

    Division of General Law

  • The Division of Indian Affairs is responsible for legal matters related to the issues and programs affecting federally recognized Indian tribes, enrolled tribal members, and other entities and individuals with which the Department interacts pursuant to applicable law.

    Division of Indian Affairs

  • The Division of Land Resources is responsible for legal matters related to the programs and activities of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), other than legal matters concerning BLM mineral programs.

    Division of Land Resources

  • Oil and gas development on federal lease managed by BLM California.
    The Division of Mineral Resources is responsible for legal matters related to the programs and activities of BLM's minerals programs, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) other than those related to its Biological Research Division.

    Division of Mineral Resources

  • The Division of Parks and Wildlife is responsible for legal matters related to the programs and activities of the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the Biological Research Division of the USGS.

    Division of Parks and Wildlife

  • Hoover Dam image
    The Division of Water Resources is responsible for water rights legal matters for the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), BLM, NPS, FWS, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and USGS.

    Division of Water Resources

  • Group of Havasupai tribal members in both traditional regalia and modern clothing.
    The Indian Trust Litigation Office provides legal counsel and defends litigation filed against the Department in Federal courts throughout the United States by individual Indians and Indian Tribes.

    Indian Trust Litigation Office

  • Employee looking through a folder of papers.
    The Departmental FOIA Office was established by Secretary’s Order 3378, Improving the Department of the Interior Freedom of Information Act Program (Jan. 7, 2020), to provide central governance over the bureau/office Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) offices and improve their FOIA request processing capacity.

    Departmental FOIA Office

  • The Departmental Ethics Office is responsible for directing and performing the daily activities of the Department’s ethics program and coordinating with the Office of Government Ethics and the Office of the Special Counsel.

    Departmental Ethics Office