How should agencies apply the statutory definition of Federal records?
36 C.F.R. § 1222.10
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) The statutory definition of Federal records is contained in 44 U.S.C. 3301 and provided in § 1220.18 of this subchapter.
(b) Several key terms, phrases, and concepts in the statutory definition of a Federal record are further explained as follows:
(1) Documentary materials has the meaning provided in § 1220.18 of this subchapter.
(2) Regardless of physical form or characteristics means that the medium may be paper, film, disk, or other physical type or form; and that the method of recording may be manual, mechanical, photographic, electronic, or any other combination of these or other technologies.
(3) Made means the act of creating and recording information by agency personnel in the course of their official duties, regardless of the method(s) or the medium involved.
(4) Received means the acceptance or collection of documentary materials by or on behalf of an agency or agency personnel in the course of their official duties regardless of their origin (for example, other units of their agency, private citizens, public officials, other agencies, contractors, Government grantees) and regardless of how transmitted (in person or by messenger, mail, electronic means, or by any other method). In this context, the term does not refer to misdirected materials. It may or may not refer to loaned or seized materials depending on the conditions under which such materials came into agency custody or were used by the agency. Advice of legal counsel should be sought regarding the “record” status of loaned or seized materials.
(5) Preserved means the filing, storing, or any other method of systematically maintaining documentary materials in any medium by the agency. This term covers materials not only actually filed or otherwise systematically maintained but also those temporarily removed from existing filing systems.
(6) Appropriate for preservation means documentary materials made or received which, in the judgment of the agency, should be filed, stored, or otherwise systematically maintained by an agency because of the evidence of agency activities or information they contain, even if the materials are not covered by its current filing or maintenance procedures.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-36.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026