§ 9101. Access to criminal history records for national security and other purposes

(a) As used in this section:

(1) The term “criminal justice agency” means

(A) any Federal, State, or local court, and

(B) any Federal, State, or local agency, or any subunit thereof, which performs the administration of criminal justice pursuant to a statute or Executive order, and which allocates a substantial part of its annual budget to the administration of criminal justice.

(2) The term “criminal history record information” means information collected by criminal justice agencies on individuals consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, indictments, informations, or other formal criminal charges, and any disposition arising therefrom, sentencing, correction supervision, and release. The term does not include identification information such as fingerprint records to the extent that such information does not indicate involvement of the individual in the criminal justice system. The term does not include those records of a State or locality sealed pursuant to law from access by State and local criminal justice agencies of that State or locality.

(3) The term “classified information” means information or material designated pursuant to the provisions of a statute or Executive order as requiring protection against unauthorized disclosure for reasons of national security.

(4) The term “State” means any of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and any other territory or possession of the United States.

(5) The term “local” and “locality” means any local government authority or agency or component thereof within a State having jurisdiction over matters at a county, municipal, or other local government level.

(6) The term “covered agency” means any of the following:

(A) The Department of Defense.

(B) The Department of State.

(D) The Office of Personnel Management.

(E) The Central Intelligence Agency.

(F) The Federal Bureau of Investigation.

(b)

(1) Upon request by the head of a covered agency, criminal justice agencies shall make available criminal history record information regarding individuals under investigation by that covered agency for the purpose of determining eligibility for any of the following:

(A) Access to classified information.

(B) Assignment to or retention in sensitive national security duties.

(D) Appointment, retention, or assignment to a position of public trust or a critical or sensitive position while either employed by the Government or performing a Government contract.

(2) Such a request to a State central criminal history record repository shall be accompanied by the fingerprints of the individual who is the subject of the request if required by State law and if the repository uses the fingerprints in an automated fingerprint identification system.

(3) Fees, if any, charged for providing criminal history record information pursuant to this subsection shall not exceed the reasonable cost of providing such information.

(4) This subsection shall apply notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation of any State or of any locality within a State, or any other law of the United States.

(c) A covered agency shall not obtain criminal history record information pursuant to this section unless it has received written consent from the individual under investigation for the release of such information for the purposes set forth in paragraph (b)(1).

(d) Criminal history record information received under this section shall be disclosed or used only for the purposes set forth in paragraph (b)(1) or for national security or criminal justice purposes authorized by law, and such information shall be made available to the individual who is the subject of such information upon request.

(e)

(1) Automated information delivery systems shall be used to provide criminal history record information to a covered agency under subsection (b) whenever available.

(2) Fees, if any, charged for automated access through such systems may not exceed the reasonable cost of providing such access.

(3) The criminal justice agency providing the criminal history record information through such systems may not limit disclosure on the basis that the repository is accessed from outside the State.

(4) Information provided through such systems shall be the full and complete criminal history record.

(5) Criminal justice agencies shall accept and respond to requests for criminal history record information through such systems with printed or photocopied records when requested.

(f) The authority provided under this section with respect to the Department of State may be exercised only so long as the Department of State continues to extend to its employees and applicants for employment, at a minimum, those procedural safeguards provided for as part of the security clearance process that were made available, as of May 1, 1987, pursuant to section 163.4 of volume 3 of the Foreign Affairs Manual.

U.S. Code

§ 9101. Access to criminal history records for national security and other purposes