[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 82 (Tuesday, April 29, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22741-22742]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-10530]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[AAG/A Order No. 014-2003]


Privacy Act of 1974: System of Records

    The Department of Justice proposes to modify the Office of the 
Inspector General Investigative Records System, Justice/OIG-001, last 
published in the Federal Register on March 10, 1992 (57 FR 8476), and 
amended in 2000 (65 FR 32126). The primary purpose of the system is to 
enable the Department's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to 
conduct its responsibilities under the Inspector General Act of 1978, 
as amended by the Inspector General Act Amendments of 1988, 5 U.S.C. 
App. 3, including its responsibility to conduct and supervise 
investigations relating to programs and operations of the Department. 
The Department now proposes to modify the system by deleting existing 
routine use (d) and substituting three new routine uses in its place, 
by adding four additional routine uses, and by republishing existing 
routine use (a) to correct two typographical errors.
    The OIG proposes to delete existing routine use (d) and to 
substitute the following three routine uses in its place. New routine 
use (d) will permit the OIG to share information with other Federal 
agencies when that information is relevant and necessary to the 
agency's hiring, security clearance, or similar decision. The existing 
provision limits disclosures to information that is ``sufficiently 
reliable to support a referral to another [government agency] for 
criminal, civil, administrative, personnel, or regulatory action.'' The 
proposed modification would permit the OIG to release information that 
may not qualify for such referral but is nevertheless relevant to a 
Federal agency's hiring, security clearance, or similar decision. In 
addition, the OIG is adding new routine uses (j) and (k), which permit 
the sharing of information with government agencies and professional 
licensing organizations in connection with their decisions regarding 
the suitability or eligibility of an individual for a license or permit 
and with State or local law enforcement agencies in connection with the 
hiring or continued employment of law enforcement officers.
    Pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Public Law 107-296, 
116 Stat. 2135, the OIG, together with the President's Council on 
Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) and the Inspector Generals (IG) of 
certain other agencies, will establish an ``external review process for 
ensuring that adequate internal safeguards and management procedures 
continue to exist within [the OIG offices affected by the Act].'' This 
process will require the OIG to share information from its 
investigative files with the PCIE and with other IG offices, who on a 
periodic basis will conduct a peer review of OIG investigative files 
and practices. Accordingly, the Department is modifying Justice/OIG-001 
to allow the disclosure of information to authorized officials within 
the PCIE and other IG offices for the purpose of conducting the 
required peer reviews.
    Also in connection with the Homeland Security Act, certain 
Department of Justice functions and employees have been transferred to 
the newly created Department of Homeland Security. Accordingly, certain 
information maintained by the DOJ OIG in connection with these 
functions and employees will be transferred to the Office of the 
Inspector General for that Department. The OIG is adding a routine use 
to cover these transfers.
    Finally, the OIG is adding two additional routine uses: one that 
permits disclosure to contractors when necessary to accomplish an 
agency function related to OIG-001 and one that allows the OIG to share 
information with former employees for the purposes of responding to 
certain official inquiries and for facilitating communications that may 
be necessary for personnel-related or other official purposes.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (11), the public is 
given a 30 day period in which to comment; and the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB), which has oversight responsibility under the Act, 
requires a 40-day period in which to conclude its review of the system. 
Any comments must be submitted in writing to Mary Cahill, Management 
Analyst, Management and Planning Staff, Justice Management Division, 
Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20530 by May 29, 2003. As 
required by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
implementing regulations, the Department of Justice has provided a 
report on the proposed changes to OMB and the Congress.
    A modified system description is set forth below.

Paul R. Corts,
Assistant Attorney General for Administration.
JUSTICE/OIG-001

System name:
    Office of the Inspector General Investigative Records.
* * * * *

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    (a) In the event that a record, either by itself or in combination 
with other information, indicates a violation or potential violation of 
law, whether civil, criminal, or regulatory in nature, and whether 
arising by general statute or particular program statute, or by rule, 
regulation, or order pursuant thereto, or

[[Page 22742]]

a violation or potential violation of a contract, the relevant record 
may be disclosed to the appropriate agency, whether Federal, State, 
local, foreign, or international, charged with the responsibility of 
investigating or prosecuting such violation, enforcing or implementing 
such statute, rule, regulation, or order, or with enforcing such 
contract.
* * * * *
    (d) A record may be disclosed to appropriate officials and 
employees of a Federal agency or entity in connection with the 
assignment, hiring, or retention of an individual; the issuance, 
renewal, suspension, or revocation of a security clearance; the 
execution of a security or suitability investigation; the letting of a 
contract, or the issuance or revocation of a grant or benefit by such 
an entity, to the extent that the information is relevant and necessary 
to that entity's decision on the matter.
* * * * *
    (j) A record may be disclosed to any Federal, State, local, tribal, 
foreign, international, or professional licensing agency or association 
in connection with that entity's decision regarding the suitability or 
eligibility of an individual for a license or permit.
    (k) A record may be disclosed to appropriate officers and employees 
of State or local (including the District of Columbia) law enforcement 
or detention agencies in connection with the hiring or continued 
employment of an employee or contractor where the employee or 
contractor would occupy or occupies a position of public trust as a law 
enforcement officer or detention officer having direct contact with the 
public or with prisoners or detainees, to the extent that the 
information is relevant and necessary to the recipient agency's 
decision.
    (l) A record may be disclosed to the Office of the Inspector 
General for the Department of Homeland Security when necessitated by 
the transfer of Department of Justice functions and employees to the 
Department of Homeland Security.
    (m) Information may be disclosed to other Federal Offices of 
Inspector General and/or to the President's Council on Integrity and 
Efficiency for purposes of conducting the external review process 
required by the Homeland Security Act.
    (n) Relevant records may be disclosed to contractors, grantees, 
experts, consultants, students, and others performing or working on a 
contract, service, grant, cooperative agreement, or other assignment 
for the Federal government, when necessary to accomplish an agency 
function related to this system of records.
    (o) Relevant and necessary information may be disclosed to a former 
employee of the Department for purposes of: responding to an official 
inquiry by a Federal, State, or local government entity or professional 
licensing authority, in accordance with applicable Department 
regulations; or facilitating communications with a former employee that 
may be necessary for personnel-related or other official purposes where 
the Department requires information and/or consultation assistance from 
the former employee regarding a matter within that person's former area 
of responsibility.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 03-10530 Filed 4-28-03; 8:45 am]
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