FEDERAL CRIMINAL RECORD
Only persons convicted of violating Federal laws (that is, laws of the United States) are sent to Federal prisons. Some individuals awaiting trial for violating Federal laws are also held in Federal prisons. While the Federal Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) does house a few state inmates, most inmates convicted of violating state or local laws are sent to state prisons or city or county jails.
What are federal criminal records?
- Records of federal crimes that an individual committed.
- Federal records are the most serious of crimes.
- Examples of federal crimes: Kidnapping, hijacking a plane, drug trafficking and money
laundering.
- Very limited identifiers may be found on federal criminal records.
Federal level records are maintained in two locations:
- U.S. District Court System (available to public)
- FBI (available to government law enforcement agencies and other groups who have been
granted access)
- There are 94 U.S. Federal Judicial Districts.
- There are 296 District and Divisional Courts.
After a federal case is closed the case information is stored at the Federal court where the case was tried. Then it moves to Federal Records Center (FRC). The length of time between a case being closed and moving to FRC varies by district.
After 20-30 years the records are transferred to the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA).
