Presidential Records Act

Presidential Records Act
Great Seal of the United States
Other short titlesPresidential Records Act, 1978
Long titleAn Act to amend title 44 to insure the preservation of and public access to the official records of the President, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)PRA
NicknamesPresidential Records Act of 1978
Enacted bythe 95th United States Congress
EffectiveJanuary 20, 1981
Citations
Public lawPub. L. 95–591
Statutes at Large92 Stat. 2523
Codification
Titles amendedTitle 44—Public Printing and Documents
U.S.C. sections created44 U.S.C. ch. 22 § 2201 et seq.
Legislative history

The Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978, 44 U.S.C. §§ 22012209,[3] is an Act of the United States Congress governing the official records of Presidents and Vice Presidents created or received after January 20, 1981, and mandating the preservation of all presidential records. Enacted November 4, 1978,[4] the PRA changed the legal ownership of the President's official records from private to public, and established a new statutory structure under which Presidents must manage their records. The PRA was amended in 2014, to include the prohibition of sending electronic records through non-official accounts unless an official account is copied on the transmission, or a copy is forwarded to an official account shortly after creation.[5]

  1. ^ "Jimmy Carter, Statement on Signing Into Law H.R. 13500, the Presidential Records Act of 1978". The American Presidency Project ~ John Woolley and Gerhard Peters. University of California - Santa Barbara. November 6, 1978.
  2. ^ Carter, Jimmy E. (November 6, 1978). "Presidential Records Act of 1978 ~ Statement on Signing H.R. 13500 Into Law - November 6, 1978". Internet Archive. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service. pp. 1965–1966.
  3. ^ "Presidential Records (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22)". National Archives. August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  4. ^ "Chairman's Notebook on Presidential Records Act | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  5. ^ Cummings, Elijah E. (November 26, 2014). "H.R.1233 - 113th Congress (2013-2014): Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments of 2014". Congress.gov. Retrieved February 26, 2019.