The United States is investigating corruption in and around Birmingham.

We know that.

The state of Alabama is investigating corruption in and around Birmingham.

We know that, too.

There's plenty to investigate, and both have opened grand juries that, well, went a little more public then they wanted. Both have subpoenaed witnesses, including politicians and appointees and the people who do business with them. Both have asked for reams of records - going back years - from institutions associated with places like the Birmingham Water Works Board, including the engineering firm Arcadis.

The feds have charged former Rep. Oliver Robinson with bribery and fraud, and accepted his guilty plea. They could move on others quickly. The state has sought information on Robinson too, and the people who bribed him.

But there's a problem.

The feds and the state are not working together. In fact, they are working apart.

Which creates problems. For prosecutors and suspects. The state may wish to prosecute Robinson's bribers under the ethics law, which could have a lower standard of proof than federal charges. But if Robinson speaks to the state investigators, he could violate the terms of his plea agreement and could face stiff prison time.

Robinson might want to cooperate with the state, because no matter what his deal with the feds protects, it does not shield him from the AG. If he talks, he could risk everything.

But it goes beyond Robinson.

U.S. Attorney Jay Town and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall

The engineering firm Arcadis - most in Alabama will know it by its former name, Malcolm Pirnie - turned over years of records to the feds in the Northern District of Alabama. It then was asked to turn over years of records to the state attorney general's office. It provided both. At twice the effort and cost.

Why? Why are they not cooperating?

Is it because of a rift between the U.S. Attorney's office and Matt Hart, the high-profile corruption unit boss at the AG's office, who used to be their colleague in the federal prosecutor's office? Is there information the feds, who got a head start, simply don't want to share with Montgomery? Is it about egos?

Jay Town, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District who was sworn into office in August, said it's none of those things.

"We'd love to find a way to work with Attorney General (Steve) Marshall's office," he said.

The problem is not one of trust or territory, but caution about what might happen to cases when federal witnesses offer additional statements to another law enforcement agency.

Town is not worried witnesses will change their stories, he said. He worries that any time a witness gives a second statement he or she might word things differently and create the illusion of a shifting story.

If a witness calls a small dog a puppy in one statement and refers to it simply as a dog in another, he has changed his wording but not the truth, Town said.

"The public has an interest in both" state and federal crimes, he said. "Which is why it's important for us to do both right."

Marshall said only this:

"We're better fighting corruption when we are able to do it together. I hope we can figure it out together."

The two will continue to talk in hopes of doing that, Town said.

They should. But then, they should have been cooperating for months, puppies and small dogs aside. Though to be fair to Town, that was long before he got there.

But it really is better when prosecutors work together.

It's better for the state. It's better for the defense. It's better for justice.

John Archibald's column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com.