For Immediate Release
March 5, 2004

Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691

FBI Announces New Proposed Records Control Schedule for FBI Case Files

The FBI is pleased to announce a new proposed records control schedule for FBI investigative, administrative, and other case files. Specifically, the case file control schedule is the legal authority governing the length of time that closed FBI case records are kept before they are transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) or destroyed. The FBI established a Records Management Division (RMD) in 2002 to update and modernize all of the FBI's records management control systems and this product is an important milestone in that process. Once this schedule is approved by NARA, it will replace authorities that have been out of date for more than a dozen years. The approval of this records control schedule plan will also be an important part of the FBI's transition to electronic, rather than paper-based, recordkeeping systems.

Federal records belong to the citizens. To that end, a summary of the new proposed schedule will be published in the Federal Register by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Citizens will then have the opportunity to request copies of the case file control schedule, ask questions of NARA and the FBI and submit suggestions for any changes to the schedule. This schedule was developed in partnership with NARA as part of their Targeted Assistance Program.

The proposed FBI case file schedule is a major milestone in updating and modernizing FBI records management. Although this document is not the final product in the modernization process, it is a major part of the Record’s Management Division’s comprehensive plan to establish complete and effective management controls for all of the FBI's records.

Please direct questions about this schedule to either the National Press Office at 202-324-3691 or to the Life Cycle Management Division of the National Archives and Records Administration at (301) 837-3560.