Source: http://intelligencelaw.com/html-only/law_school/course_1_lesson_4_7_3.html
Timestamp: 2017-03-29 15:15:34
Document Index: 356777247

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\n1', '§ 1505', '§ 1501', '§ 1501', '§ 1505', '§ 1501', '§ 1501', '§ 2501', '§\n2904', '§\n2907', '§ 3101', '§ 21072111', '§ 3101', '§ 3106', '§ 3106']

Intelligence Law School - Course 1: Lesson 4.7.3 Title 44: Records Management and Retention [HTML-Only]
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7.2.1 Concluding Remarks for Course I ««« Previous Lesson | Next Lesson »»» LESSON 4: STATUTORY LAW
Sorry, your browser does not support the audio tag. We recommend you download the latest version of the Firefox web browser to view this page. Annotated Lecture Transcript 4.7.3 Title 44: Records Management and Retention
Title 5 is the primary location of most general management
statutes that govern federal agencies across the board; however, it’s not the
only title of the U.S. Code with relevant general management statutes. Not by a longshot. There are scattered provisions in many other Titles. Title 44, for example, contains various statutes related to
public printing and documents, and contains a number of statutes related to
records management and retention that are relevant to intelligence law. Most of the Federal Records Act of 1950 and other relevant
statutes like the Presidential Records Act of 1978 are codified primarily in
Title 44. There are a few exemptions relevant to certain intelligence
agencies contained in some statutes, but in the absence of such an exemption
these statutes apply to intelligence agencies just like everyone else. Ø The Federal Register Act of 1935: The Federal Register Act
of 1935 mandated that all Presidential and agency rules of general
applicability and legal effect[1]
be published in the Federal Register so that they are widely
disseminated and freely available for public inspection.[2] o This was one of
the earliest major moves toward transparency in federal governance that is
still in effect to this day. o The bulk of the
Federal Register Act is codified in Title 44 as Chapter 15.[3] o Ø The Federal Records Act of 1950: The Federal Records Act
of 1950 formalized many the document retention requirements and established
some of the most important administrative powers of the Archivist of the United
States necessary to ensure compliance with federal record keeping requirements.[4]
Ø Ø The Presidential Records Act of 1978: Chapter 22 of Title
44 contains the Presidential Records Act of 1978.[5] o The act was
passed in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. President Nixon’s documents
and records were seized and held in federal custody after Congress passed the
Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974.[6] o After this
unpleasantness, Congress decided to formalize the process so future Presidents
would never again presume to control documents of national historical
significance produced during their tenure. o The
Presidential Records Act made Presidential documents federal property and
placed their care and maintenance in the hands of the Archivist of the United
States after a President’s tenure concludes.[7]
o The Act took
effect on January 20, 1981, after the conclusion of the presidency of Jimmy
Carter. o Ø Chapter 31: Agency Records Retention and Maintenance:
Chapter 31 contains more provisions from the Federal Records Act of 1950.[8] o Specifically,
Chapter 31 contains provisions requiring the heads of federal agencies to
establish and maintain a system for maintaining agency records.[9] o Perhaps most
interesting is Section 3106, which requires the head of each Federal agency to
notify the Archivist of any “actual, impending, or threatened unlawful removal,
defacing, alteration, or destruction of records in the custody of the agency of
which he is the head that shall come to his attention […]”.[10]
o Then, with the
assistance of the Archivist, the agency head must “initiate action through the
Attorney General for the recovery of records he knows or has reason to believe
have been unlawfully removed from his agency, or from another Federal agency
whose records have been transferred to his legal custody.”[11]
o If the agency
head doesn’t initiate action through the Attorney General’s office, the
Archivist must do it himself and notify Congress what has happened.[12] o Destruction of agency documents can be pretty serious business.
[1] See 1 C.F.R. §
1.1 (1988) (defining rules of “general applicability and legal effect" to
include “any document issued under proper authority prescribing a penalty or
course of conduct, conferring a right, privilege, authority, or immunity, or
imposing an obligation, and relevant or applicable to the general public,
members of a class, or persons in a locality, as distinguished from named
individuals or organizations.”).
[2] Federal Register Act, 44
U.S.C. § 1505 (2010) ("Documents to be published in Federal Register: (a)
Proclamations and Executive Orders; documents having general applicability and
legal effect; documents required to be published by Congress. There shall be
published in the Federal Register— (1) Presidential proclamations and Executive
orders, except those not having general applicability and legal effect or
effective only against Federal agencies or persons in their capacity as
officers, agents, or employees thereof; (2) documents or classes of documents
that the President may determine from time to time have general applicability
and legal effect; and (3) documents or classes of documents that may be
required so to be published by Act of Congress. For the purposes of this
chapter [44 U.S.C. §§ 1501 et seq.] every document or order which prescribes a
penalty has general applicability and legal effect. (b) Documents authorized to
be published by regulations; comments and news items excluded. In addition to
the foregoing there shall also be published in the Federal Register other
documents or classes of documents authorized to be published by regulations
prescribed under this chapter [44 U.S.C. §§ 1501 et seq.] with the approval of
the President, but comments or news items of any character may not be published
in the Federal Register."); see also Congressional Research Serv., General Management Laws: A Compendium,
§ I(A), RL30795 (MAY 19, 2004), available at https://intelligencelaw.com/files/pdf/law_library/crs/RL30795_5-19-2004.pdf
(“The Federal Register Act was originally legislated in 1935 (49 Stat. 500) to
establish accountability and publication arrangements for presidential
proclamations and executive orders and for federal agency rules and
regulations. The centerpiece of the resulting system is the Federal Register,
an executive gazette produced by the Office of the Federal Register of the
National Archives and Records Administration. It is printed by the Government
Printing Office and lately has been available, as well, in electronic formats
(online and via CD-ROM).”) (internal footnotes omitted).
[3] Federal Register Act of
1935, 44 U.S.C. § 1505 (2010) ("Documents to be published in Federal
Register: (a) Proclamations and Executive Orders; documents having general
applicability and legal effect; documents required to be published by
Congress. There shall be published in the Federal Register— (1) Presidential
proclamations and Executive orders, except those not having general
applicability and legal effect or effective only against Federal agencies or
persons in their capacity as officers, agents, or employees thereof; (2)
documents or classes of documents that the President may determine from time to
time have general applicability and legal effect; and (3) documents or classes
of documents that may be required so to be published by Act of Congress. For
the purposes of this chapter [44 U.S.C. §§ 1501 et seq.] every document or
order which prescribes a penalty has general applicability and legal effect.
(b) Documents authorized to be published by regulations; comments and news
items excluded. In addition to the foregoing there shall also be published in
the Federal Register other documents or classes of documents authorized to be
published by regulations prescribed under this chapter [44 U.S.C. §§ 1501 et
seq.] with the approval of the President, but comments or news items of any
character may not be published in the Federal Register."); see also
Congressional Research Serv., General
Management Laws: A Compendium, § I(A), RL30795 (MAY 19, 2004), available
at https://intelligencelaw.com/files/pdf/law_library/crs/RL30795_5-19-2004.pdf
(“The cumulative and operative authority of the Federal Register Act may be
found in Chapter 15 of Title 44, United States Code.”).
[4] See Congressional Research Serv., General
Management Laws: A Compendium, § I(C), RL30795 (MAY 19, 2004), available
(“The Federal Records Act of 1950 (64 Stat. 583) was another milestone. While
it is most often remembered for its placement of the Archivist and the National
Archives under the authority of the Administrator of the General Services
Administration, among the statute’s important innovations were: creation of the
National Historical Publications Commission to “make plans, estimates, and
recommendations for such historical works and collections of sources as it
deems appropriate for printing or otherwise recording at the public expense ...
[and to] cooperate with and encourage both governmental and nongovernmental
institutions, societies, and individuals in collecting and preserving and, when
it deems such action to be desirable, in editing and publishing the papers of
outstanding citizens of the United States and such other documents as may be
important for an understanding and appreciation of the history of the United States”
(44 U.S.C. §§ 2501-2506); authorizing the analysis, development, promotion, and
coordination of standards, procedures, and techniques “designed to improve the
management of records, to insure the maintenance and security of records deemed
appropriate for preservation, and to facilitate the segregation and disposal of
records of temporary value,” and other related actions (44 U.S.C. §§
2904-2906); authorizing the establishment, maintenance, and operation of
records centers “for the storage, processing, and servicing of records for
Federal agencies pending their deposit with the National Archives of the United
States or their disposition in any other manner authorized by law” (44 U.S.C. §
2907); prescribing the records management responsibilities of agency heads (44
U.S.C. §§ 3101-3107); and prescribing archival administration responsibilities
for the deposit of federal agency and congressional records “determined by the
Archivist to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their
continued preservation by the United States Government” in the National
Archives, and other related actions (44 U.S.C. §§ 21072111). The provisions of
the Federal Records Act and those of subsequent records management statutes are
largely codified in chapters of Title 44 of the United States Code.”) (internal
[5] See Congressional Research Serv., General
(“Chapter 22 contains the provisions of the Presidential Records Act of 1978
(92 Stat. 2523), which marked a major change in federal policy on the custody
and preservation of presidential records.”).
[6] 88 Stat. 1695; see
also Congressional Research Serv.,
General Management Laws: A Compendium, § I(C), RL30795 (MAY 19, 2004), available
(“As a consequence of the Watergate incident and related matters, the official
papers and records of President Richard Nixon were placed under federal custody
by specially legislated arrangements — the Presidential Recordings and
Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 1695). This statute requires that
these materials remain in Washington, DC, where they are maintained under the
supervision of the Archivist. Thus, Nixon neither could take his presidential
records and documents with him when he left office, nor could place them in a
presidential library outside the nation’s capital. This 1974 statute also
created the temporary National Study Commission on Records and Documents of
Federal Officials (88 Stat. 1698). The panel was tasked “to study problems and
questions with respect to the control, disposition, and preservation of records
and documents produced by on behalf of Federal officials, with a view toward
the development of appropriate legislative recommendations and other
recommendations regarding appropriate rules and procedures with respect to such
control, disposition, and preservation.” Its final report was issued in March
1977. [U.S. National Study Commission on Records and Documents of Federal
Officials, Final Report of the National Study Commission on Records and
Documents of Federal Officials (Washington: GPO, 1977). Also see Anna Kasten
Nelson, “The Public Documents Commission: Politics and Presidential Records,”
Government Publications Review, vol. 9, Sept./Oct. 1982, pp. 431-451.]”) (some
internal footnotes omitted).
[7] See Congressional Research Serv., General
(“Responding partly to some of the commission’s recommendations, Congress
legislated the Presidential Records Act in 1978. After defining “presidential
records,” the statute specifies that all such materials created on or after
January 20, 1981, are subject to its provisions. It effectively made
presidential records federal property, to remain under the custody and control
of the Archivist when each incumbent President left the White House. Jimmy
Carter was the last occupant of the Oval Office who could freely take away his
records and papers.”).
[8] See Congressional Research Serv., General
(“Chapter 31, also containing core provisions from the Federal Records Act,
prescribes the records management responsibilities of the federal agencies,
including the general duties of agency heads, the requirement to establish and
maintain “an active, continuing program for the economical and efficient management
of the records of the agency,” and certain related procedural matters.”).
[9] 44 U.S.C. § 3101
(“Records management by agency heads; general duties: The head of each Federal
agency shall make and preserve records containing adequate and proper
documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures,
and essential transactions of the agency and designed to furnish the
information necessary to protect the legal and financial rights of the
Government and of persons directly affected by the agency's activities.”).
[10] 44 U.S.C. § 3106
(“Unlawful removal, destruction of records: The head of each Federal agency
shall notify the Archivist of any actual, impending, or threatened unlawful
removal, defacing, alteration, or destruction of records in the custody of the
agency of which he is the head that shall come to his attention and with the
assistance of the Archivist shall initiate action through the Attorney General
for the recovery of records he knows or has reason to believe have been unlawfully
removed from his agency, or from another Federal agency whose records have been
transferred to his legal custody. In any case in which the head of the agency
does not initiate an action for such recovery or other redress within a
reasonable period of time after being notified of any such unlawful action, the
Archivist shall request the Attorney General to initiate such an action, and
shall notify the Congress when such a request has been made.”).
[12] 44 U.S.C. § 3106 (“[…]
In any case in which the head of the agency does not initiate an action for
such recovery or other redress within a reasonable period of time after being
notified of any such unlawful action, the Archivist shall request the Attorney
General to initiate such an action, and shall notify the Congress when such a
request has been made.”).