[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 107 (Monday, June 6, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32849-32850]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-11147]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
[Docket No. OLP 100]
Criminal History Background Checks; Request for Comments
AGENCY: Department of Justice.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Section 6403 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108-458, 118 Stat. 3638, 3758-60 (2004)
requires the Attorney General to report to Congress on statutorily
required criminal history record checks conducted by the Department of
Justice. As part of this report, the Attorney General is required to
make certain recommendations to Congress for improving, standardizing,
and consolidating the existing statutory authorizations, programs, and
procedures for the conduct of criminal history record checks for non-
criminal justice purposes, such as licensing and employment. In
developing this report, the Attorney General must consult with
representatives of state criminal history repositories, the National
Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact Council, appropriate
representatives of private industry, and representatives of labor.
Therefore, to provide a means of input to these named parties, and to
allow for broader public input on the issues that will be addressed in
the report, the Department of Justice is publishing this notice seeking
public comment on the development of the required report.
DATES: All comments must be received no later than August 5, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Richard A. Hertling, Deputy
Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy, 4234 Robert F.
Kennedy Building, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20530.
To ensure proper handling, please reference OLP Docket No. 100 on your
correspondence. You also may comment via the Internet to the Justice
Department's Office of Legal Policy (OLP) at [email protected]. When
submitting comments electronically, you must include ``OLP Docket No.
100'' as the sole heading in the subject box.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 17, 2004, the President signed
the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004
(hereinafter the ``Act''), Pub. L. 108-458, 118 Stat. 3638 (2004).
Section 6403 of the Act requires the Attorney General to report to
Congress on a number of matters associated with record checks using
Department of Justice-maintained criminal history information. For
example, the Act requires the Department of Justice to provide
information regarding the number of criminal history record checks
requested, the type of information requested, the usage of different
terms and definitions regarding criminal history information, and the
variation in fees charged for such information and who pays such fees.
In addition, the Department of Justice also is required to ``make
recommendations to Congress for improving, standardizing, and
consolidating the existing statutory authorizations, programs, and
procedures for the conduct of criminal history record checks for non-
criminal justice purposes.'' Section 6403(d), 118 Stat. 3638, 3759
(2004). Pursuant to section 6403(d) of the Act, the Department of
Justice is to consider the following fifteen factors in making the
recommendations:
(1) The effectiveness and efficiency of utilizing commercially
available databases as a supplement to IAFIS [the Integrated Automated
Fingerprint Identification System] criminal history information checks;
(2) Any security concerns created by the existence of these
commercially available databases concerning their ability to provide
sensitive information that is not readily available about law
enforcement or intelligence officials, including their identity,
residence, and financial status;
(3) The effectiveness of utilizing State databases;
(4) Any feasibility studies by the Department of Justice of the
resources and structure of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to
establish a system to provide criminal history information;
(5) Privacy rights and other employee protections, including--
(A) Employee consent;
(B) Access to the records used if employment was denied;
(C) The disposition of the fingerprint submissions after the
records are searched;
(D) An appeal mechanism; and
(E) Penalties for misuse of the information;
(6) The scope and means of processing background checks for private
employers utilizing data maintained by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation that the Attorney General should be allowed to authorize
in cases where the authority for such checks is not available at the
State level;
(7) Any restrictions that should be placed on the ability of an
employer to charge an employee or prospective employee for the cost
associated with the background check;
(8) Which requirements should apply to the handling of incomplete
records;
(9) The circumstances under which the criminal history information
should be disseminated to the employer;
(10) The type of restrictions that should be prescribed for the
handling of criminal history information by an employer;
[[Page 32850]]
(11) The range of Federal and State fees that might apply to such
background check requests;
(12) Any requirements that should be imposed concerning the time
for responding to such background check requests;
(13) Any infrastructure that may need to be developed to support
the processing of such checks, including--
(A) The means by which information is collected and submitted in
support of the checks; and
(B) The system capacity needed to process such checks at the
Federal and State level;
(14) The role that States should play; and
(15) Any other factors that the Attorney General determines to be
relevant to the subject of the report.
Congress has instructed the Department of Justice to consult with
certain parties in developing the report. In accordance with section
6403(e) of the Act, the Department of Justice must consult with
representatives of State criminal history record repositories, the
National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact Council, appropriate
representatives of private industry, and representatives of labor, as
determined appropriate by the Attorney General.
Comments Sought
The Department of Justice seeks public comment on all of the
reporting requirements described in section 6403 of the Act. In
particular, the Department is seeking comments responsive to the
fifteen factors it must consider when making recommendations to
Congress. The Department welcomes comments not just from the specific
parties identified in section 6403(e) of the Act, but from any person
who may be able to provide responsive information that the Department
may consider when drafting the report.
Dated: May 31, 2005.
Rachel Brand,
Acting Assistant Attorney General.
[FR Doc. 05-11147 Filed 6-3-05; 8:45 am]
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