Cold Case Records Board Moves Thousands of Civil Rights Pages Toward Release
Published Date: 11/9/2026
Notice
Summary
The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board reviewed over 11,000 pages and a video about two important civil rights cases. They decided to make most of these records public but approved some delays to protect sensitive info. This means more history will be shared soon, with legal steps starting right away to unseal key details, all happening by late 2026.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Board will seek court unsealing of grand jury material
The Review Board will ask the Attorney General to petition the relevant court to unseal federal grand jury information in incident 2024-003-008. That petition process was announced in the Board's October 23, 2026 decision and could lead to further public disclosure if the court grants the request.
Public release of thousands of pages
You will get public access to 9,696 pages in full and 27 pages plus one video in part from two civil rights cold case incidents (identifiers 2024-003-008 and 2024-003-060). The Review Board approved these disclosures on October 23, 2026 and published the decision in the Federal Register on November 9, 2026.
Many proposed postponements were approved
NARA proposed 1,864 postponements; after consultation the Review Board recorded that NARA withdrew 64 postponements and the Board approved 1,772 postponements and portions of 2 additional postponements. That means substantial portions of the submitted records remain postponed (withheld) following the October 23, 2026 decision.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
Related Federal Register Documents
2026-19783, Notice of Formal Determination on Records Release
The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board decided to approve 2 out of 9 new requests to delay releasing certain records about a 2024 civil rights case. This means some information will stay under wraps a bit longer, while most records will be made public soon. These decisions were announced quickly to keep things transparent and on schedule.
2026-17441, Notice of Formal Determination on Records Release
The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board previously reviewed and made formal disclosure determinations on records related to civil rights cold case incident 2023-002-006 in which the Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed postponements. The DOJ later proposed 4 additional postponements. On August 24, 2026, the Review Board rejected these postponements and determined that 32 pages in full and 33 pages in part should be publicly disclosed in the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection. By issuing this notice, the Review Board complies with the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018 that requires the Review Board to publish in the Federal Register its determinations on the disclosure or postponement of records in the Collection no more than 14 days after the date of its decision.
2026-17368, Notice of Formal Determination on Records Release
The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board reviewed over 5,600 pages of records about three important civil rights cases. They decided to release most of these pages to the public while approving some delays to protect sensitive info. This means more history will soon be available for everyone to see, with some court actions requested to unseal key details.
2026-03814, Notice of Formal Determination on Records Release
The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board decided to release 1,300 pages of important records about four civil rights cold cases. This means the public can now access these documents, with no delays or extra costs. The decision was made on February 20, 2026, and announced quickly to keep things transparent and timely.
2025-09417, Notice of Formal Determination on Records Release
The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board reviewed 418 pages of records about three civil rights cold cases. They decided to release most of the records to the public but approved some delays in sharing certain parts. This means people can now access many important documents, with some info postponed for security or privacy reasons, all happening in May 2025 with no cost impact.
2025-07821, Notice of Formal Determination on Records Release
The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board reviewed over 2,400 pages of records about two important civil rights cases. They decided to release most of the pages to the public but approved some delays on others, balancing transparency with privacy. This decision affects anyone interested in these cases and happens quickly, with public access starting soon and no extra costs involved.
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