United States and must first be presented by the injured party to the appropriate federal agency for administrative action under the Federal Tort Claims Act. General provisions for processing such administrative claims are contained in 28 CFR part 14. The provisions in this part supplement the general provisions in order to describe specific procedures to follow when filing a claim with the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (“CSOSA”) or the District of Columbia Pretrial Services Agency (“PSA”).

§ 801.2 Filing a claim.

(a) Who may file the claim? You may file a claim for money damages against CSOSA or PSA if you believe that a CSOSA or PSA employee has injured you or has damaged or lost property that you own. You may file a claim on behalf of an injured or deceased person or owner of damaged or lost property if you are acting as agent, executor, administrator, parent, guardian, legal or other representative provided you submit evidence of your authority to act on behalf of the claimant.

(b) What information do you need to submit in your claim? (1) The easiest way to ensure that you will include all necessary information for your claim is to submit a completed Standard Form 95 ("SF 95"). The SF 95 is available from the Office of the General Counsel, CSOSA, (see address in paragraph (c) of this section) and on the Internet at http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/forms/

forms.htm.

(2) If you do not use the SF 95, you must submit written notification of the incident that resulted in the injury, loss, or damage. Along with this notification, you must present a claim for money damages in a sum certain (that is, a precise dollar amount) for injury to or loss of property, personal injury, or death alleged to have occurred on the basis of the incident. Failure to include the precise dollar amount for your claim may mean that you will have difficulty pursuing your claim in court.

(c) Where do you submit the claim? You should submit the claim (whether against CSOSA or PSA) directly to the Office of the General Counsel, CSOSA,

633 Indiana Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20004. Claims submitted to any other office of CSOSA or PSA are forwarded to the Office of the General Counsel.

(d) When must you submit the claim? You must submit the claim so that CSOSA/PSA receives the claim within 2 years after the claim accrues. Mailing the claim by that date is not sufficient if CSOSA/PSA does not receive the claim by that date. Generally speaking, a claim accrues at the time of the injury. In those instances where neither the injury nor its cause is immediately apparent, the claim accrues when you discover (or reasonably should discover) the injury and its

cause.

(e) May you amend your claim? Yes, you may amend your claim at any time prior to final agency action or prior to your filing suit in court.

§ 801.3 Processing the claim.

(a) Will CSOSA/PSA contact you about your claim? (1) If you have provided all necessary information to process your claim, you will receive an acknowledgement indicating the filing date (that is, the date CSOSA/PSA received your claim) and the assigned claim number. Refer to the claim number in any further correspondence you may have with CSOSA/PSA on the claim.

(2) If you have failed to include all necessary information, CSOSA/PSA will return your claim to you with a request for the necessary additional information.

(3) If your claim should have been filed with another agency, CSOSA/PSA will forward the claim to the appropriate agency and notify you of the transfer, or return the claim to you if the appropriate agency cannot be determined or if the transfer is otherwise not feasible.

(b) Who is responsible for offering settlement or denial on the claim? The General Counsel is responsible for investigating the claim and, after consultation with PSA (if the claim is against PSA) and the Department of Justice when appropriate, determining whether the claim should be settled or denied.

(c) How long does CSOSA/PSA have to consider your claim? CSOSA/PSA has 6 months from the date of filing to make

a settlement offer or to deny your claim. If you amend your claim (see § 801.2(e)) or request that your claim be reconsidered (see § 801.4(b)(1)), CSOSA/ PSA has an additional 6 months from the date of the amendment or the filing of the request for reconsideration to make a final disposition of the claim.

(d) Will appreciation or depreciation be considered? Yes, appreciation or depreciation is considered in settling a claim for lost or damaged property.

§ 801.4 Final disposition of claim.

(a) What if you accept the settlement offer? If you accept a settlement offer, you give up your right to bring a lawsuit against the United States or against any employee of the government whose action or lack of action gave rise to your claim.

(b) What if your claim is denied? (1) If your claim is denied, you have 30 days from the date of CSOSA/PSA's written notification to make a written request that the agency reconsider the denial.

(2) If your claim is denied or you reject the settlement offer, you have 6 months from the date of mailing of CSOSA/PSA's notice of denial to file a civil action in the appropriate U.S. District Court.

(c) What if you do not hear from CSOSA/PSA within 6 months of the filing date? If you do not hear from CSOSA/ PSA within 6 months of the filing date for the claim, you may consider your claim denied. You may then proceed with filing a civil action in the appropriate U.S. District Court.

Subpart A-General

§ 802.1 Introduction.

This part contains regulations of the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia ("CSOSA" or "Agency") and the District of Columbia Pretrial Services Agency ("PSA" or "Agency") which implement the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, and the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a, and provide for the production of records in response to a demand from a court or other noncongressional authority in connection with a proceeding to which the Agency is not a party.

Subpart B-Freedom of Information Act

§ 802.2 Purpose and scope.

The purpose of this subpart is to establish procedures for the release of records in the possession of the Agency pursuant to the provisions of the FOIA.

§ 802.3

Guidelines for disclosure.

(a) The authority to release or deny access to records and information under the FOIA is limited to the General Counsel and his or her designee.

(b) An agency record will be released in response to a written request, unless a valid legal exemption to disclosure is asserted.

(1) Any applicable exemption to disclosure which is provided under the FOIA in 5 U.S.C. 552 may be asserted.

(2) A record must exist and be in the possession and control of the agency at the time of the request to be considered subject to this part and the FOIA. There is no obligation to create, compile, or obtain a record to satisfy a FOIA request.

(3) Hard copy of electronic records that are subject to FOIA requests under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3), and that are available to the public through an established distribution system or through the FEDERAL REGISTER or the Internet, normally need not be processed under the provisions of the FOIA. However, if the requester insists that the request be processed under the FOIA, then the request shall be processed under the FOIA.

§ 802.4 Definitions.

As used in this subpart, the following terms have the following meanings: (a) Agency has the meaning given in 5 U.S.C. 551(1) and 5 U.S.C. 552(f).

(b) Appeal means a request for a review of the agency's determination with regard to a fee waiver, category of requester, expedited processing, or denial in whole or in part of a request for access to a record or records.

(c) Business information means trade secrets or other commercial or financial information.

(d) Business submitter means any entity which provides business information to the Agency and which has a proprietary interest in the information.

(e) Computer software means tools by which records are created, stored, and retrieved. Normally, computer software, including source code, object code, and listings of source and object codes, regardless of medium, are not agency records. Proprietary (or copyrighted) software is not an agency record.

(f) Confidential commercial information means records provided to the government by a submitter that arguably contain material exempt from release under Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), because disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause substantial competitive harm.

(g) Duplication refers to the process of making a copy of a record in order to respond to a FOIA request. Such copies take the form of paper copy, microform, audio-visual materials, or machine-readable documentation (e.g., magnetic tape or disk), among others.

can

(h) Electronic records mean those records and information which are created, stored, and retrievable by electronic means. This ordinarily does not include computer software, which is a tool by which to create, store, or retrieve electronic records.

(i) Request means any request for records made pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3).

(j) Requester means any person who makes a request for access to records.

(k) Review, for fee purposes, refers to the process of examining records located in response to a commercial use request to determine whether any portion of any record located is permitted to be withheld. It also includes processing any records for disclosure; e.g., doing all that is necessary to excise them and otherwise prepare them for release.

(1) Search includes all time spent looking for material that is responsive to a request, including page-by-page or line-by-line identification of material within records. Searches may be done manually or by automated means.

§ 802.5 Freedom of Information Act requests.

(a) Submission, processing, and release procedures. (1) Requests for any record (including policy) ordinarily will be

processed pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552. Your request must be made in writing and addressed to the FOIA Officer, Office of the General Counsel, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, 633 Indiana Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20004. The requester should clearly mark on the face of the letter and the envelope "Freedom of Information Request."

(2) Your request will be considered received as of the date it is received by the FOIA Office. For quickest possible handling, you should mark both your request letter and the envelope "Freedom of Information Act Request."

(3) Generally, all FOIA requests will be processed in the approximate order of receipt, unless the requester shows exceptional circumstances exist to justify an expedited response (see § 802.8).

(4) You must state in your request a firm agreement to pay the fees for search, duplication, and review as may ultimately be determined. The agreement may state the upper limit (but not less than $25) that the requester is willing to pay for processing the request. A request that fees be waived or reduced may accompany the agreement to pay fees and will be considered to the extent that such request is made in accordance with § 802.4(b) and provides supporting information to be measured against the fee waiver standard set forth in §802.9(g). The requester shall be notified in writing of the decision to grant or deny the fee waiver. If a requester has an outstanding balance of search, review, or duplication fees due for FOIA request processing, the requirements of this paragraph are not met until the requester has remitted the outstanding balance due.

(b) Description of records sought. You must describe the records that you seek in enough detail to enable Agency personnel to locate them with a reasonable amount of effort. Whenever possible, your request should include specific information about each record sought, such as the date, title or name, author, recipient and subject matter of the record. As a general rule, the more specific you are about the records or type of records that you want, the more likely the Agency will be able to locate the records in response to your

request. If a determination is made that your request does not reasonably describe records, the Agency will tell you either what additional information is needed or why your request is otherwise insufficient. You will be given the opportunity to discuss your request so that you may modify it to meet the requirements of this section.

(1) If a document contains information exempt from disclosure, any reasonably segregable portion of the record will be provided to you after deletion of the exempt portions.

(2) You will be notified of the decision on the request within 20 days after its receipt (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays).

§ 802.6 Documents from other agencies.

(a) Documents from or relating to Federal agencies. (1) When a request for records includes a document from another Federal agency, the document will be referred to the originating Federal agency for a determination of its releasability. The requester will be informed of the referral. This is not a denial of a FOIA request; thus no appeal rights accrue to the requester.

(2) When a FOIA request is received for a record created by the Agency that includes information originated by another federal agency, the record will be referred to the originating agency for review and recommendation on disclosure. The Agency will not release any such record without prior consultation with the originating agency.

(b) Documents from non-Federal agencies. When a request for records includes a document from a non-Federal agency, CSOSA staff must make a determination of its releasability.

§ 802.7 Denial of request.

(a) Denial in whole or in part. If it is determined that the request for records should be denied in whole or in part, the requester shall be notified by mail. The letter of notification shall:

(1) State the exemptions relied on in not granting the request;

(2) If technically feasible, indicate the amount of information deleted at

the place in the record where such deletion is made (unless providing such indication would harm an interest protected by the exemption relied upon to deny such material);

(3) Set forth the name and title or position of the responsible official;

(4) Advise the requester of the right to administrative appeal in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section; and

(5) Specify the official or office to which such appeal shall be submitted.

(b) No records found. If it is determined, after a thorough search for records by the responsible official or his delegate, that no records have been found to exist, the responsible official will so notify the requester in writing. The letter of notification will advise the requester of the right to administratively appeal the determination that no records exist (i.e., to challenge the adequacy of the search for responsive records) in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section. The response shall specify the official or office to which the appeal shall be submitted for review.

(c) Administrative appeal. (1) A requester may appeal an initial determination when:

(1) Access to records has been denied in whole or in part;

(ii) There has been an adverse determination of the requester's category as provided in § 802.10(d);

(iii) A request for fee waiver or reduction has been denied; or

(iv) It has been determined that no responsive records exist.

(2) Appeals must be made within 30 days of the receipt of the letter denying the request. Both the envelope and the letter of appeal should be sent to the Office of the General Counsel, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, 633 Indiana Avenue, NW., Room 1220, Washington, DC 20004 and must be clearly marked "Freedom of Information Act Appeal."

(3) The General Counsel will make an appeal determination within 20 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays) from the date of receipt of the appeal. However, for a good reason, this time limit may be extended up to an additional 10 days. If, after review, the General Counsel determines that additional information should be re

leased, it will accompany the appeal response. If, after review, the General Counsel determines to uphold the initial review, we will inform you.

§ 802.8 Expedited processing.

(a) Requests and appeals will be taken out of order and given expedited treatment whenever staff determines that they involve:

(1) Circumstances in which the lack of expedited treatment could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual. The requester must fully explain the circumstances warranting such an expected threat so that the Agency may make a reasoned determination.

(2) With respect to a request made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information, a matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government's integrity which affect public confidence. A person "primarily engaged in disseminating information" does not include individuals who are engaged only incidentally in the dissemination of information. The standard of "widespread and exceptional media interest" requires that the records requested pertain to a matter of current exigency to the American public and that delaying a response to a request for records would compromise a significant recognized interest to and throughout the general public. The requester must adequately explain the matter or activity and why it is necessary to provide the records being sought on an expedited basis.

(b) If you seek expedited processing, you must submit a statement, certified to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief. The statement must be in the form prescribed by 28 U.S.C. 1746, "I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. Executed on [date]."

(c) The determination as to whether to grant or deny the request for expedited processing will be made, and the requester notified, within ten days after the date of the request. Because a decision to take a FOIA request out of order delays other requests, simple