18 U.S.C. § 4004
Section 4004 · Oaths and acknowledgments
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 11 court decisions — leading case United States v. Levin (1953)
Most recently applied in 91 F. Supp. 3d 198 - Pabon-Mandrell v. United States (March 2015)
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 wardens and superintendents, associate wardens and superintendents, chief clerks, and record clerks, of Federal penal or correctional institutions, may administer oaths to and take acknowledgments of officers, employees, and inmates of such institutions, but shall not demand or accept any fee or compensation therefor.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §754 (Feb. 11, 1938, ch. 24, §§1, 2, 52 Stat. 28).
Section was extended to include superintendents and associate superintendents.
Minor changes were made in phraseology. Words “the authority conferred by” were omitted as surplusage.
Amendments
1984—Pub. L. 98–473 substituted “and record clerks” for “record clerks, and parole officers”.
1955—Act July 7, 1955, permitted chief clerks, record clerks, and parole officers to administer oaths and take acknowledgments.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 98–473 effective Nov. 1, 1987, and applicable only to offenses committed after the taking effect of such amendment, see section 235(a)(1) of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as an Effective Date note under section 3551 of this title.