§3662 Conviction Records

Summary

The Attorney General can create a central file at the Department of Justice to store records of criminal convictions and later court rulings about those convictions. After someone is convicted in federal courts, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory or possession, or in courts or agencies of local governments, for an offense punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year, or when a court later reviews and decides on the validity of such a conviction, the court must send a certified record to that repository in the form the Attorney General requires. Those records are not public. Certified copies can be given to law enforcement or corrections officials for law enforcement purposes; states can get them only if their law requires their courts to send records too. Certified copies count as initial proof in court that the convictions happened and whether a later court has found them invalid. The Attorney General must give public notice and hold hearings before making rules about the repository.