On Monday, Dallas Kaplan was sworn in as First Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, taking over the number-two spot in the Charlotte-based federal prosecutor’s office. U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson administered the oath during a short ceremony at the office, capping Kaplan’s recent detail with the Department of Justice’s National Security Division in Washington, D.C.
Office announcement
Today, Dallas Kaplan was sworn in as First Assistant U.S. Attorney after being detailed from @DOJNatSec. U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson, who administered the oath of office, said: “Dallas is a longtime federal prosecutor, both in this office and at Main Justice in D.C. We are… pic.twitter.com/xOt9lWPOLN
— U.S. Attorney WDNC (@USAO_WDNC) February 9, 2026
In a post on X, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Kaplan was sworn in on Monday after his detail with the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and described him as “a longtime federal prosecutor” with experience both in the Western District and at Main Justice in Washington. The office added that it is grateful for his experience and signaled it is looking forward to his leadership in the role.
National-security experience
Kaplan’s national-security résumé includes work as a trial attorney in the DOJ’s National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, a role noted in a 2025 press release by the Eastern District of New York. That release lists Kaplan as a trial attorney assisting prosecution teams on export-control and sanctions-related matters, experience the Charlotte office said will be useful in his new post.
What the First Assistant does
The First Assistant supervises the Civil, Criminal, Appellate and Administrative divisions and serves as chief adviser to the U.S. Attorney, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina. In practice, that means overseeing day-to-day prosecution priorities and managing senior leaders across offices in Charlotte and Asheville.
Local context
Kaplan steps into a top operational job at an office that handles federal cases across western North Carolina. His mix of Main Justice and field prosecutorial experience positions him to influence how the office approaches investigations and enforcement in Charlotte and surrounding counties.
Where to find the office
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina is based in Charlotte, with its main office listed at 227 West Trade St., Suite 1650. For the official notice and related background, see the office’s main page at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina and its news feed.
