This bill aims to open more records about unsolved civil rights cases to the public. It says government records about these cases should be released as soon as possible so people can learn the full history. It also makes it easier to gather records from states and local agencies by letting the federal review board pay them back for costs like scanning, copying, and mailing records to the National Archives . It clarifies moving state and local records into the national collection and extends the review board’s life from 7 years to 11 years, so the work doesn’t end too soon . Overall, it strengthens the review board’s powers under the existing civil rights cold case records law .

It also says a common privacy rule cannot be used to withhold civil rights cold case records dated on or before January 1, 1990, making it more likely that older records will be released .

• Who is affected: Families, researchers, journalists, and communities seeking answers about civil rights-era crimes; state and local agencies that hold old case files; and the federal review board that oversees these records .
• What changes:
  • Strong push to release records quickly .
  • Federal reimbursement to states and localities for digitizing, copying, and mailing records to the Archives .
  • Older records (on or before 1/1/1990) can’t be withheld using a standard privacy exemption .
  • The review board continues for 11 years instead of 7, giving more time to collect and release records .