36 CFR § 1251.1 - What is the purpose of this part?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t36/s1251.1"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "36 CFR § 1251.1 - What is the purpose of this part?"
title_number: 36
title_name: "Parks, Forests, and Public Property"
section_number: "1251.1"
section_name: "What is the purpose of this part?"
chapter_name: "NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION"
subchapter_number: "C"
subchapter_name: "PUBLIC AVAILABILITY AND USE"
part_number: "1251"
part_name: "TESTIMONY BY NARA EMPLOYEES RELATING TO AGENCY INFORMATION AND PRODUCTION OF RECORDS IN LEGAL PROCEEDINGS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "44 U.S.C. 2104; 44 U.S.C. 2108; 44 U.S.C. 2109; 44 U.S.C. 2111 note; 44 U.S.C. 2112; 44 U.S.C. 2116; 44 U.S.C. ch. 22; 44 U.S.C. 3103."
regulatory_source: "73 FR 79393, Dec. 29, 2008, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "1251"
---


# 1251.1 What is the purpose of this part?

(a) This part provides the policies and procedures to follow when submitting a demand to an employee of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to produce records or provide testimony relating to agency information in connection with a legal proceeding. You must comply with these requirements when you request the release or disclosure of records or agency information.

(b) The National Archives and Records Administration intends these provisions to:

(1) Promote economy and efficiency in its programs and operations;

(2) Minimize NARA's role in controversial issues not related to its mission;

(3) Maintain NARA's impartiality among private litigants when NARA is not a named party; and

(4) Protect sensitive, confidential information and the deliberative processes of NARA.

(c) In providing for these requirements, NARA does not waive the sovereign immunity of the United States.

(d) This part provides guidance for the internal operations of NARA. It does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, that a party may rely upon in any legal proceeding against the United States.