36 CFR § 1256.72 - What are FOIA requests and mandatory review requests?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t36/s1256.72"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "36 CFR § 1256.72 - What are FOIA requests and mandatory review requests?"
title_number: 36
title_name: "Parks, Forests, and Public Property"
section_number: "1256.72"
section_name: "What are FOIA requests and mandatory review requests?"
chapter_name: "NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION"
subchapter_number: "C"
subchapter_name: "PUBLIC AVAILABILITY AND USE"
part_number: "1256"
part_name: "ACCESS TO RECORDS AND DONATED HISTORICAL MATERIALS"
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. 2101-2118; 22 U.S.C. 1461(b); 5 U.S.C. 552; E.O. 12958 (60 FR 19825, 3 CFR, 1995 Comp., p. 333; E.O. 13292, 68 FR 15315, 3 CFR, 2003 Comp., p. 196; E.O. 13233, 66 FR 56023, 3 CFR, 2001 Comp., p. 815."
regulatory_source: "69 FR 39325, June 30, 2004, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "1256"
---


# 1256.72 What are FOIA requests and mandatory review requests?

(a) You may file a FOIA request for Executive Branch agency records, regardless of whether they contain classified information. The FOIA also applies to Presidential records as cited in § 1256.74(b). The FOIA does not apply to records of the Judicial and Legislative Branches or to donated historical materials.

(b) You may only file a mandatory review request if the records contain classified information. NARA handles mandatory review requests for records we hold for the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative Branches as well as donated historical materials under E.O. 12958, as amended, section 3.5.