Office of General Counsel as soon as possible for appropriate instruction. Disclosure of such information
is regulated by the Department of Justice rules found at 28 C.F.R. 16.21-16.29.
Before information can be divulged, the Chairman of the Commission must consent to the dissemination.
The procedure need not be followed where an agent of the Department of Justice, e.g., Assistant U.S.
Attorney, is subpoenaing the information since the disclosure is essentially "in-house" and covered as a
routine use under the Privacy Act. In the event that permission is not granted, persons to whom such
subpoenas are directed should be advised to contact the local United States Attorney's Office to secure its
assistance in defending that position.
(d) Requests from Law Enforcement Authorities. The Privacy Act specifically allows for the unconsented
disclosure of file material (including photocopies) concerning a prisoner or parolee to any federal, state,
or local government agency for a criminal or civil law enforcement activity if the head of the agency (or
a person who can act for the agency head) makes a written request to the Commission specifying the
material desired and the law enforcement activity for which the records are sought. 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(7).
Routine use (d) extends this exception for foreign law enforcement agencies. Thus, agencies as different
as a state bureau of investigation, a county sheriff's office, a metropolitan police department, the Internal
Revenue Service, a state department of insurance, a local liquor control board, or the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police may all present valid requests for information under this section.
On occasion, a request which on its face may fall within this exception should still not be complied with
unless good cause is shown for the disclosure. For example, a domestic relations agency may seek the file
information to compel a parolee to pay child support, which would be a law enforcement activity,
especially since continued non-payment may result in criminal prosecution. In this case, disclosure would
be appropriate. Yet, if the same agency seeks the information to resolve a child custody dispute, the case
probably does not involve law enforcement, but civil litigation regarding the rights of the parents over the
child. Routine use (3) would be applicable instead. If in doubt about the proprietary of disclosure in any
case, staff should not make the decision without the advice of the General Counsel's Office.
Requests from governmental agents who apparently have supervisory authority, such as "chief of homicide
division," rather than the actual head of the agency, i.e., chief of police, may be responded to without
further correspondence on the issue of proper authorization.
Commission staff should require the requester to be specific about the type of information sought and the
purpose of the request. Staff should divulge only that information which reasonably satisfies the request
of the law enforcement agency. Any disclosure made to the law enforcement authority must be
documented for the file in order to comply with the accountability requirements of the Privacy Act.
(e) Public Sector Information/Disclosure to Members of the Press. Information deemed to be the "public
sector" can be disclosed to third parties without the consent of the file subject, unless the information
pertains to a "protection" case where minimal or no disclosure is made. Public sector information
encompasses the following data: (1) name; (2) register number; (3) past and current places of
incarceration; (4) age (i.e., date of birth); (5) race; (6) sentence data on the Bureau's Sentence Computation
Record (BP-5); (7) date(s) of parole hearing(s); and (8) the decision(s) rendered by the Commission after
agency proceedings including dates of continuances and presumptive parole dates. Notes: (1) An inmate's
designated future place of incarceration is not public information; (2) Reasons for parole denial or
revocation are not considered public sector information. If the requester desires information other than
public sector information, the disclosure must fit a Privacy Act exception, a routine use, or be specifically
consented to by the inmate or person on supervision.
(f) Original Jurisdiction Cases. Media inquires on prisoners who are considered under the Commission's
original jurisdiction voting procedure, 28 C.F.R. Section 2.17 and 2.27, will generally be handled by the
Department of Justice, Office of Public Information. This office can also be utilized as a resource for
Commission staff when they encounter a particular problem with a news reporter's request for information
on a prisoner or parolee, regardless of whether or not the file subject is an original jurisdiction case. It is
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