[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 28, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2008]
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 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

[[Page 286]]

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]