28 U.S.C. § 582
Section 582 · Assistant United States trustees
This is § 224 of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 (Title 11)
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case In Re Kontaratos (1981)
Most recently applied in In Re: Soussis (May 2025)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) The Attorney General may appoint one or more assistant United States trustees in any region when the public interest so requires.
(b) Each assistant United States trustee is subject to removal by the Attorney General.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
Section 408(c) of Pub. L. 95–598, as amended, which provided for the repeal of this section and the deletion of any references to United States Trustees in this title at a prospective date, was repealed by section 307(b) of Pub. L. 99–554. See note set out preceding section 581 of this title.
Amendments
1986—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–554, §111(d)(1), substituted “region” for “district”.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99–554, §111(d)(2), struck out “for cause” after “removal”.
Effective Date of 1986 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 99–554 effective 30 days after Oct. 27, 1986, see section 302(a) of Pub. L. 99–554, set out as a note under section 581 of this title.
Appointment of United States Trustees by Attorney General
For sense of Congress concerning consideration of estate administrators under title 11 by the Attorney General for appointment under this section as U.S. trustee and assistant U.S. trustee, see section 309 of Pub. L. 99–554, set out as a note under section 581 of this title.