OCR investigates complaints from individuals or groups who believe that they have experienced discrimination from an agency that receives funding from the Justice Department. These include the Office of Justice Programs and its components as well as the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and the Office on Violence Against Women. OCR can also investigate agencies that receive Justice Department funding from state and local government agencies.

Federal laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age or disability.

If you believe that you have experienced discrimination, you are encouraged to file a civil rights complaint as soon as possible. Complaints can be initiated by clicking the File a Complaint button below and supplying the requested information.

Alternatively, you may initiate a complaint by filing in this Complaint Verification Form AND Identity Release Statement and submitting them to:  [email protected] or:

Office for Civil Rights
Office of Justice Programs
U.S. Department of Justice
999 N. Capitol Street, NE
Washington, DC 20531

Any faith-based or religious organization that believes it has been discriminated against by a DOJ grantee regarding a subaward may find more information on filing a complaint at Guidance for Faith-Based Organizations.

The OCR will provide language assistance at no cost to limited English proficient (LEP) individuals. Please let us know if you have trouble understanding English or need help communicating with the OCR. Ask for an interpreter or if translated materials are available when you contact us ([email protected]). If you can, please tell us your language (or dialect).