5 U.S.C. § 1504
Section 1504 · Investigations; notice of hearing
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 12 court decisions — leading case Smith v. United States Civil Service Commission (1975)
Most recently applied in Perkins v. Office of Special Counsel (April 2008)
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.
When a Federal agency charged with the duty of making a loan or grant of funds of the United States for use in an activity by a State or local officer or employee has reason to believe that the officer or employee has violated section 1502 of this title, it shall report the matter to the Special Counsel. On receipt of the report or on receipt of other information which seems to the Special Counsel to warrant an investigation, the Special Counsel shall investigate the report and such other information and present his findings and any charges based on such findings to the Merit Systems Protection Board, which shall—
(1) fix a time and place for a hearing; and
(2) send, by registered or certified mail, to the officer or employee charged with the violation and to the State or local agency employing him a notice setting forth a summary of the alleged violation and giving the time and place of the hearing.
The hearing may not be held earlier than 10 days after the mailing of the notice.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
June 11, 1960, Pub. L. 86–507, §1(1), 74 Stat. 200. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.
Amendments
1978—Pub. L. 95–454 substituted provisions respecting the functions of the Special Counsel and the Merit Systems Protection Board for provisions respecting the functions of the Civil Service Commission.
Effective Date of 1978 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 95–454 effective 90 days after Oct. 13, 1978, see section 907 of Pub. L. 95–454, set out as a note under section 1101 of this title.