44 U.S.C. § 3101
Section 3101 · Records management by agency heads; general duties
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 37 court decisions — leading case Hobson v. Wilson (1984)
Most recently applied in Doyle v. US Dept. of Homeland Security (May 2020)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The head of each Federal agency shall make and preserve records containing adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the agency and designed to furnish the information necessary to protect the legal and financial rights of the Government and of persons directly affected by the agency's activities.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on 44 U.S. Code, 1964 ed., §396(a) (June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title V, §506(a), as added Sept. 5, 1950, ch. 849, §6(d), 64 Stat. 583).