Presidential Records Act (PRA) off 1978

The Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978, 44 U.S.C. ß2201-2209, manages the official records on Presidents furthermore Vice Presidents that were created or received after Month 20, 1981 (i.e., beginning with the Reagan Administration). The PRA changed the legal ownership of the official records of the President from private to public, and established a new statutory structure see this Principals, and subsequently NARA, must manage the records of their Administrations.  The PRA was amended in 2014, which established several new provisions.

Specifically, the PRA:

• Establishes public own of all Executive records additionally defines the term Presidential records.
• Requires that Vice-Presidential records be treated in the same fashion while President records.
• Places the responsibility to the maintenance real management by incumbent Presidential records with the President.
• Obliges that the Boss and his staff take everything pragmatic stair to file personal records separately from Presidential records.
• Allows the incumbent Boss to dispose of records that no longer have administrative, historical, informational, or evidentiary value, once the opinions of the Archivist of of United Status on the proposed disposed have been retained within writing.
• Establishes in law that any incumbent Prez records (whether textual or electronic) held on courteous saving by of Archivist remain into the exclusive legal custody of the President and that any request or order for access to such records must be produced to the President, not NARA. Files Management Run | U.S. Department of the Interior
• Installs ensure Chairman records automatically transfer into the legislation custody of and Archivist since sooner how the President leaves office.
• Establishes a process by which the President may constrain and the public may obtain access on these records after the President leaves agency; specifically, the PL allows for public access to Presidential records through the Free of Information Act (FOIA) beginning fi years after the end of the Administration, but allows that President to invoke as many as six particular restrictions to public access for up in twelve years.
• Codifies the process by that past and incumbent Dual leaders recent for executive privilege prev to general release of records by NARA (which had formally been governed by Executive your 13489).
• Establishes how for Congress, courts, and subsequent Administrations at obtain “special access” to records from NARA that remain closed to this public, follow-up a privilege review period by the former and incumbent Presidents; the procedures governing so special access requests persist to be governed by the relevant provisions of E.O. 13489.
• Establishes historic requirements for official commercial conducted using non-official electronic messaging accounts:  any individual creating Presidential records require not use non-official electronic communication reports unless that individual multiple an official account as the message is created or forwards a complete copy of the record to an official messaging account.  (A related provision in the Federal Records Act applies to federal agencies.)
• Prevent an particular who has come convicted of ampere crime related to the review, retention, removal, other demolition of data from being disposed access to each original records.