[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 28, Volume 1]

[Revised as of July 1, 2005]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 28CFR16.41]



[Page 285-286]

 

                    TITLE 28--JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION

 

                    CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

 

PART 16_PRODUCTION OR DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL OR INFORMATION--Table of 

Contents

 

 Subpart D_Protection of Privacy and Access to Individual Records Under 

                         the Privacy Act of 1974

 

Sec. 16.41  Requests for access to records.



    (a) How made and addressed. You may make a request for access to a 

Department of Justice record about yourself by appearing in person or by 

writing directly to the Department component that maintains the record. 

Your request should be sent or delivered to the component's Privacy Act 

office at the address listed in appendix I to this part. In most cases, 

a component's central Privacy Act office is the place to send a Privacy 

Act request. For records held by a field office of the Federal Bureau of 

Investigation (FBI) or the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), 

however, you must write directly to that FBI or INS field office 

address, which can be found in most telephone books or by calling the 

component's central Privacy Act office. (The functions of each component 

are summarized in Part 0 of this title and in the description of the 

Department and its components in the ``United States Government 

Manual,'' which is issued annually and is available in most libraries, 

as well as for sale from the Government Printing Office's Superintendent 

of Documents. This manual also can be accessed electronically at the 

Government Printing Office's World Wide Web site (which can be found at 

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su--docs). If you cannot determine where 

within the Department to send your request, you may send it to the FOIA/

PA Mail Referral Unit, Justice Management Division, U.S. Department of 

Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20530-0001, and 

that office will forward it to the component(s) it believes most likely 

to have the records that you seek. For the quickest possible handling, 

you should



[[Page 286]]



mark both your request letter and the envelope ``Privacy Act Request.''

    (b) Description of records sought. You must describe the records 

that you want in enough detail to enable Department personnel to locate 

the system of records containing them with a reasonable amount of 

effort. Whenever possible, your request should describe the records 

sought, the time periods in which you believe they were compiled, and 

the name or identifying number of each system of records in which you 

believe they are kept. The Department publishes notices in the Federal 

Register that describe its components' systems of records. A description 

of the Department's systems of records also may be found as part of the 

``Privacy Act Compilation'' published by the National Archives and 

Records Administration's Office of the Federal Register. This 

compilation is available in most large reference and university 

libraries. This compilation also can be accessed electronically at the 

Government Printing Office's World Wide Web site (which can be found at 

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su--docs).

    (c) Agreement to pay fees. If you make a Privacy Act request for 

access to records, it shall be considered an agreement by you to pay all 

applicable fees charged under Sec. 16.49, up to $25.00. The component 

responsible for responding to your request ordinarily shall confirm this 

agreement in an acknowledgement letter. When making a request, you may 

specify a willingness to pay a greater or lesser amount.

    (d) Verification of identity. When you make a request for access to 

records about yourself, you must verify your identity. You must state 

your full name, current address, and date and place of birth. You must 

sign your request and your signature must either be notarized or 

submitted by you under 28 U.S.C. 1746, a law that permits statements to 

be made under penalty of perjury as a substitute for notarization. While 

no specific form is required, you may obtain forms for this purpose from 

the FOIA/PA Mail Referral Unit, Justice Management Division, U.S. 

Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 

20530-0001. In order to help the identification and location of 

requested records, you may also, at your option, include your social 

security number.

    (e) Verification of guardianship. When making a request as the 

parent or guardian of a minor or as the guardian of someone determined 

by a court to be incompetent, for access to records about that 

individual, you must establish:

    (1) The identity of the individual who is the subject of the record, 

by stating the name, current address, date and place of birth, and, at 

your option, the social security number of the individual;

    (2) Your own identity, as required in paragraph (d) of this section;

    (3) That you are the parent or guardian of that individual, which 

you may prove by providing a copy of the individual's birth certificate 

showing your parentage or by providing a court order establishing your 

guardianship; and

    (4) That you are acting on behalf of that individual in making the 

request.



[Order No. 2156-98, 63 FR 29600, June 1, 1998; 63 FR 34965, June 26, 

1998; 63 FR 51401, Sept. 25, 1998]