
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 5USC9101]

 
             TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
 
                           PART III--EMPLOYEES
 
        Subpart H--Access to Criminal History Record Information
 
CHAPTER 91--ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AND 
                             OTHER PURPOSES
 
Sec. 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.
            (C) The Department of Transportation.
            (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.
        (C) Acceptance or retention in the armed forces.
        (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.

(Added Pub. L. 99-169, title VIII, Sec. 801(a), Dec. 4, 1985, 99 Stat. 
1009; amended Pub. L. 99-569, title IV, Sec. 402(a), Oct. 27, 1986, 100 
Stat. 3196; Pub. L. 101-246, title I, Sec. 114, Feb. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 
22; Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title X, Sec. 1076(a)-(e), 
(f)(2)(A)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A-280 to 1654A-282.)


                               Amendments

    2000--Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title X, 
Sec. 1076(f)(2)(A)], substituted ``Access to criminal history records 
for national security and other purposes'' for ``Criminal history record 
information for national security purposes'' in section catchline.
    Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title X, 
Sec. 1076(e)(1)], substituted ``means (A) any Federal, State, or local 
court, and (B) any Federal, State, or local agency, or any subunit 
thereof, which'' for ``includes Federal, State, and local agencies and 
means: (A) courts, or (B) a Government agency or any subunit thereof 
which''.
    Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title X, 
Sec. 1076(e)(2)], inserted ``the Commonwealth of'' before ``the Northern 
Mariana Islands'' and struck out ``the Trust Territory of the Pacific 
Islands,'' after ``American Samoa,''.
    Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title X, 
Sec. 1076(a)(1)], added par. (6).
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title X, 
Sec. 1076(c)], in first sentence of par. (1), inserted ``any of the 
following:'' after ``eligibility for'' and substituted subpars. (A) to 
(D) for ``(A) access to classified information or (B) assignment to or 
retention in sensitive national security duties.'', designated second 
sentence of par. (1) as par. (2), designated third sentence of par. (1) 
as par. (3) and substituted a period for ``, nor shall they in any event 
exceed those charged to State or local agencies other than criminal 
justice agencies for such information.'', and redesignated former par. 
(2) as (4).
    Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title X, 
Sec. 1076(a)(2)], substituted ``by the head of a covered agency'' for 
``by the Department of Defense, the Department of State, the Office of 
Personnel Management, the Central Intelligence Agency, or the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation'' and ``that covered agency'' for ``such 
department, office, agency, or bureau''.
    Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title X, 
Sec. 1076(b)], struck out par. (3) which related to agreements between 
Federal departments and agencies and States and localities to indemnify 
and hold harmless the States and localities from claims arising from the 
disclosure or use of criminal history record information.
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title X, 
Sec. 1076(a)(3)], substituted ``A covered agency'' for ``The Department 
of Defense, the Department of State, the Office of Personnel Management, 
the Central Intelligence Agency, or the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation''.
    Subsecs. (e), (f). Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title X, 
Sec. 1076(d)], added subsec. (e) and redesignated former subsec. (e) as 
(f).
    1990--Subsecs. (b)(1), (3)(A), (B), (c). Pub. L. 101-246, 
Sec. 114(1), inserted ``the Department of State,'' after ``Defense,'' 
wherever appearing.
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 101-246, Sec. 114(2), added subsec. (e).
    1986--Subsecs. (b)(1), (3), (c). Pub. L. 99-569 inserted references 
to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and such bureau.


                    Effective Date of 1986 Amendment

    Section 402(c) of Pub. L. 99-569 provided that: ``The amendments 
made by this section [amending this section and provisions set out as a 
note under this section] shall become effective with respect to any 
inquiry which begins after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 27, 
1986] conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for purposes 
specified in paragraph (b)(1) of section 9101 of title 5, United States 
Code.''


                             Effective Date

    Section 802 of Pub. L. 99-169 provided that: ``The amendments made 
by section 801(a) of this Act [enacting this section] shall become 
effective with respect to any inquiry which begins after the date of 
enactment of this Act [Dec. 4, 1985] conducted by the Department of 
Defense, the Office of Personnel Management, or the Central Intelligence 
Agency, for the purposes specified in paragraph (b)(1) of section 9101 
of title 5, United States Code, as added by this Act.''


          Termination Date of Subsection (b)(3) of This Section

    Pub. L. 100-453, title I, Sec. 101(d), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 
1904, extended the expiration date provided in section 803(b) of Pub. L. 
99-169, formerly set out below, until Dec. 31, 1989.
    Section 803(b) of Pub. L. 99-169 provided that subsec. (b)(3) of 
this section expired three years after Dec. 4, 1985.


     Report to Congressional Committees on Effect of Provisions for 
                       Indemnification Agreements

    Section 803(a) of Pub. L. 99-169, as amended by Pub. L. 99-569, 
title IV, Sec. 402(b), Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3196, directed 
Department of Justice, within two years after Dec. 4, 1985, and after 
consultation with Department of Defense, Office of Personnel Management, 
Central Intelligence Agency, and Federal Bureau of Investigation, to 
report to appropriate committees of Congress concerning the effect of 5 
U.S.C. 9101(b)(3), as added by this Act, including the effect of the 
absence of indemnification agreements upon States and localities not 
eligible under 5 U.S.C. 9101(b)(3) for such agreements.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in title 42 section 14614.
