28 CFR 0.27 - General functions.

The Department of Justice (DOJ or Department), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is issuing a final rule for the recently modified system of records titled “Investigative Reporting and Filing System” (IRFS), JUSTICE/DEA-008. This system, which has already been exempted from particular subsections of the Privacy Act of 1974, is now being exempted further. Information in this system relates to law enforcement and intelligence matters, and for the reasons set forth in the rule these exemptions are necessary to avoid interference with the law enforcement, counterterrorism, and national security functions and responsibilities of the DEA.

In this interim rule, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) makes a minor change to remove an administrative level of review from the processing of a Compassionate Release request packet.

The Department of Justice (DOJ or Department), Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), is issuing a final rule for the modified system of records notice entitled “Inmate Central Records System” (ICRS) (JUSTICE/BOP-005). This system is being exempted from certain subsections of the Privacy Act of 1974 listed below for the reasons set forth in the following text.

The Department of Justice (DOJ or Department) is issuing a final rule for the new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Privacy Act system of records titled FBI Data Warehouse System, JUSTICE/FBI-022. This system is being exempted from the subsections of the Privacy Act listed below for the reasons set forth in the following text. Information in this system of records relates to law enforcement matters, and the exemptions are necessary to avoid interference with the national security and criminal law enforcement functions and responsibilities of the FBI.

The Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (“CSOSA”) is issuing a final rule to change all references to the District of Columbia Pretrial Services Agency (“PSA”), an independent federal agency within CSOSA, to reflect the change of the agency's name to the Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia. Additionally, the description of PSA's seal is being amended. The regulations are also being amended to clearly state that either CSOSA's Director or PSA's Director or designee has the authority to affix the seal for that Director's respective agency. Finally, the regulations are being amended to clearly state that either CSOSA's or PSA's Director or designee may approve the use of the seal. All the changes made in this rule are strictly technical.

The Department of Justice is amending its regulations to allow the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to exercise, for a one-year period following the effective date of this rule, the authority to seize and administratively forfeit property involved in controlled substance offenses. Many years of experience have demonstrated that forfeiting the assets of criminals is an essential tool in combating criminal activity and provides law enforcement with the capacity to dismantle criminal organizations that would continue to function after the conviction and incarceration of individual offenders. Moreover, administrative forfeiture permits the expedient and effective use of this crucial law enforcement tool.

This rule proposes to increase the fee from $55 per person per hour to $65 per person per hour for process served or executed personally by a United States Marshals Service employee, agent, or contractor. This proposed fee increase reflects the current costs to the United States Marshals Service for service of process in federal court proceedings.

The Department of Justice (DOJ or Department), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is issuing a final rule for the recently modified system of records titled “Investigative Reporting and Filing System” (IRFS), JUSTICE/DEA-008. This system, which has already been exempted from particular subsections of the Privacy Act of 1974, is now being exempted further. Information in this system relates to law enforcement and intelligence matters, and for the reasons set forth in the rule these exemptions are necessary to avoid interference with the law enforcement, counterterrorism, and national security functions and responsibilities of the DEA.

In this interim rule, the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) makes a minor change to remove an administrative level of review from the processing of a Compassionate Release request packet.

The United States Parole Commission proposes to revise its rules describing the conditions of release set for persons on supervision. The revision is part of our ongoing effort to make our rules easier to understand for those persons affected by the rules and other interested persons and organizations. We also propose to add new procedures for imposing special conditions for sex offenders, and to fill a gap left by an earlier rule change in 2003 regarding the administrative appeals that may be filed by District of Columbia offenders on supervised release.

The Department of Justice (DOJ or Department), Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), is issuing a final rule for the modified system of records notice entitled “Inmate Central Records System” (ICRS) (JUSTICE/BOP-005). This system is being exempted from certain subsections of the Privacy Act of 1974 listed below for the reasons set forth in the following text.

The Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) proposes to remove rules which designate various offenses as sexual offenses for purposes of U.S. Code because that provision, which necessitated regulations, has been repealed in relevant part.

The Department of Justice (the Department) proposes three amendments to part 25 of title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations. These proposed changes are intended to promote public safety, to enhance the efficiency of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) operations, and to resolve difficulties created by unforeseen processing conflicts within the system. The proposed amendments are for the following purposes: to add tribal criminal justice agencies to those entities authorized to receive information in connection with the issuance of a firearm-related permit or license; to authorize access for criminal justice agencies to the FBI-maintained NICS Index to permit background checks for the purpose of disposing of firearms in the possession of those agencies; and to permit NICS to retain in a separate database its Audit Log records relating to denied transactions beyond 10 years, rather than transferring them to a Federal Records Center for storage.

The Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (“CSOSA”) is issuing a proposed rule to amend its current rule that sets forth procedures and requirements relating to periodic verification of registration information for sex offenders. The proposed rule, if finalized, would permit CSOSA to verify addresses of sex offenders by conducting home visits on its own accord and with its law enforcement partners. The proposed rule, if adopted, would also clarify the schedule for verifying home addresses, even for those sex offenders who are required to register but are not under CSOSA's supervision.

The Department of Justice (DOJ or Department) is issuing a final rule for the new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Privacy Act system of records titled FBI Data Warehouse System, JUSTICE/FBI-022. This system is being exempted from the subsections of the Privacy Act listed below for the reasons set forth in the following text. Information in this system of records relates to law enforcement matters, and the exemptions are necessary to avoid interference with the national security and criminal law enforcement functions and responsibilities of the FBI.

The Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (“CSOSA”) is issuing a final rule to change all references to the District of Columbia Pretrial Services Agency (“PSA”), an independent federal agency within CSOSA, to reflect the change of the agency's name to the Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia. Additionally, the description of PSA's seal is being amended. The regulations are also being amended to clearly state that either CSOSA's Director or PSA's Director or designee has the authority to affix the seal for that Director's respective agency. Finally, the regulations are being amended to clearly state that either CSOSA's or PSA's Director or designee may approve the use of the seal. All the changes made in this rule are strictly technical.

The Department of Justice is amending its regulations to allow the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to exercise, for a one-year period following the effective date of this rule, the authority to seize and administratively forfeit property involved in controlled substance offenses. Many years of experience have demonstrated that forfeiting the assets of criminals is an essential tool in combating criminal activity and provides law enforcement with the capacity to dismantle criminal organizations that would continue to function after the conviction and incarceration of individual offenders. Moreover, administrative forfeiture permits the expedient and effective use of this crucial law enforcement tool.

Elsewhere in the Federal Register , the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a component of the Department of Justice, has published a notice of a new Privacy Act system of records, JUSTICE/FBI-022, the FBI Data Warehouse System. In this notice of proposed rulemaking, the FBI proposes to exempt this system from certain provisions of the Privacy Act in order to avoid interference with the national security and criminal law enforcement functions and responsibilities of the FBI. Public comment is invited.