28 C.F.R. § 20.20 – Applicability.

(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. (1) Posters, announcements, or lists for identifying or apprehending fugitives or wanted persons;
2. (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. (3) Court records of public judicial proceedings;
4. (4) Published court or administrative opinions or public judicial, administrative or legislative proceedings;
5. (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. (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.