28 C.F.R. § 20.20

Applicability

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(a) The regulations in this subpart apply to all State and local agencies and individuals collecting, storing, or disseminating criminal history record information processed by manual or automated operations where such collection, storage, or dissemination has been funded in whole or in part with funds made available by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration subsequent to July 1, 1973, pursuant to title I of the Act. Use of information obtained from the FBI Identification Division or the FBI/NCIC system shall also be subject to limitations contained in subpart C.

(b) The regulations in this subpart shall not apply to criminal history record information contained in:

(1) Posters, announcements, or lists for identifying or apprehending fugitives or wanted persons;

(2) Original records of entry such as police blotters maintained by criminal justice agencies, compiled chronologically and required by law or long standing custom to be made public, if such records are organized on a chronological basis;

(3) Court records of public judicial proceedings;

(4) Published court or administrative opinions or public judicial, administrative or legislative proceedings;

(5) Records of traffic offenses maintained by State departments of transportation, motor vehicles or the equivalent thereof for the purpose of regulating the issuance, suspension, revocation, or renewal of driver's, pilot's or other operators' licenses;

(6) Announcements of executive clemency.

(c) Nothing in these regulations prevents a criminal justice agency from disclosing to the public criminal history record information related to the offense for which an individual is currently within the criminal justice system. Nor is a criminal justice agency prohibited from confirming prior criminal history record information to members of the news media or any other person, upon specific inquiry as to whether a named individual was arrested, detained, indicted, or whether an information or other formal charge was filed, on a specified date, if the arrest record information or criminal record information disclosed is based on data excluded by paragraph (b) of this section. The regulations do not prohibit the dissemination of criminal history record information for purposes of international travel, such as issuing visas and granting of citizenship.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1990–2025 · leading case: Jackie Ray Cline v. George W. Rogers, Individually & in His Capacity as Sheriff of McMinn Cnty. & McMinn Cnty., Tennessee, 87 F.3d 176 (6th Cir. 1996).

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Jackie Ray Cline v. George W. Rogers, Individually & in His Capacity as Sheriff of McMinn Cnty. & McMinn Cnty., Tennessee, 87 F.3d 176 (6th Cir. 1996). “” 28 C.F.R. § 20.20 (e) (emphasis added). Again, it is noteworthy that Cline does not allege that the information Sheriff Rogers allegedly disclosed was incorrect.”

Donrey of Nevada, Inc. v. Bradshaw, 798 P.2d 144 (Nev. 1990). · cites it 2× “For example, 28 C.F.R. § 20.20 (b) of the parent federal regulations (hereinafter, in general, Federal Regulations) does not exclude information concerning juveniles.”

Spurlock v. Ashley Cnty. Arkansas, 281 F. App'x 628 (8th Cir. 2008). “See 28 C.F.R. § 20.20 (c) (“Nothing in these regulations prevents a criminal justice agency from disclosing to the public criminal history record information related to the offense for which an individual is currently within the criminal justice system.”

Glazer's Wholesale Drug Co., Inc. v. Kansas, 145 F. Supp. 2d 1234 (D. Kan. 2001). “See 28 C.F.R. § 20.20 . Regulations promulgated by the United States Department of Justice set forth a procedure whereby state licensing agencies can access the NCIC records system in order to obtain the criminal history backgrounds of licensing applicants.”

Gonzalez v. Guevara (N.D. Ill. 2025). “110] at 10 (citing 28 CFR § 20.20 , and § 20.25). Again, CCSAO does not identify any regulations that bar production of such records in response to a subpoena or court order in federal court.”

Saadiq Long v. Pamela Bondi (4th Cir. 2025). “He also claims that Defendants “lack[] statutory and regulatory authority to share [his] information through the NCIC” because “[n]either 28 C.F.R. § 20.20 and 28 U.S.C. § 534 , nor any other provision, allows sharing non-criminal information such as watchlist information.”

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