Legal Authority

28 CFR 16.41 (up to date as of 11/24/2023)
Requests for access to records.

28 CFR 16.41 (Nov. 24, 2023)

This content is from the eCFR and is authoritative but unofficial.

Title 28 —Judicial Administration
Chapter I —Department of Justice
Part 16 —Production or Disclosure of Material or Information
Subpart D —Protection of Privacy and Access to Individual Records Under the Privacy Act of
1974
Source: Order No. 2156–98, 63 FR 29600, June 1, 1998, unless otherwise noted.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 552, 552a, 553; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510, 534; 31 U.S.C. 3717.

§ 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 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 § 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.

28 CFR 16.41(c) (enhanced display)

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28 CFR 16.41 (up to date as of 11/24/2023)
Requests for access to records.

28 CFR 16.41(d)

(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]

28 CFR 16.41(e)(4) (enhanced display)

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