ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL OF OFFICIAL PERSONNEL FILES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00357R000300010019-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 4, 2001
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: May 21, 1971
• Content Type: MF

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SECRE
25X1A 21 May 3971
4PrnctADUM 70R1 Chief, Control DiViS1011
SUBJECT Administrative Control of Official Peraonnel
Pilee
A) 1
B) 1111111
REFERENCE'
1. The recent reeommendation by the Inspector eeneral
that there ehould be * positive and continuoue control of
all Offieial Pereonnel Piles has required a review of Trans-
actions $0 Reeords Branch (TM) file control proeedures.
2. A cursory review of file eontrol procedures in the
Agency is As follow. A current roster of individuals author
seed to lelarge out personnel files i8 kept in the Files Sec-
tion of TRS. These records include not only data on the
individual, but also the type of files he will be apewed
eo see, When one of thee individuals wishes to charge out
a file, a charge-out is placed in the space vacated by the
file and the file ig given to him or sent to him. Tf the file
ig to be forwarded to an area outside of hie eontrol, approval
must he obteleed from the Head of the individual's Career
Service and if it is to be forwarded between operating office*,
TRB must be notified by a Certified Transfer Report. riles
are loaned out for a tan day period after which an extension
must be obtained from TRB. This system currently handles an
average of approximately i700 file charges per week,
3. As a first step in examinine file control procedures
TRIR surveyed the personnei file control eyetems used by NSA,
Am, USIA and State Department in an attempt to identify ay
useful procedures for Agency adoption, AID has a centralized
pergonnel file system, but they do not hiVZ a list of pereons
authorized to charge out Mee. The supervisor of their files
section says that he gets to know who they are. They have
have done away with any need for a receiptin ygtom by refusing
to send out any files, All files muet be picked up in perebn.
Files my be phargad out for five dayg on the basis of * eharge
eard filled out by the indtvidual. Their volume ie about
pr week and they do not have any scheduled inventory,
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4, The State Department bag a centralized files systems
They th$ah a current ligt of individuals authorized to
charge out files aa well ag a list of individuals authorized
to carry personnel files as couriers. An authorized indivi-
dual may have a file for 30 days after filling eet * eharge
request which is filed in the epaee vacated by the file.
The Stets Department had a receipting system in effect for
files that were sent out until about four yeare ago, whet.' it
was abandoned becauee they could not afford the extensive
time and effort to maiatain it. They also used to have a
periodic inventory as a back up for thear charge system, but
they have not had one for acme time now.
5. The United States Information A ency does not have
a centralized as sys em, ere are eeparate sectioftefor
foreign service and the various domeetic media. The foreign
service section does maintain A /Jet of iedividuaIs authorized
to pull personnel files and it ig kept current. When an
individual wants a file, a charge card is filled out and,
placed in the space vacated by the file. When a filo ia aent
to a requester, a classified receipt i filled out and returned
to the Files Section. Thee* receipts are placed in a box
according to the. month ot_the charge, but it is unclear how
valuable these receipts really are in that there ie to stipu-
lated time limit on how long a file may be eaarged oat, and
follow up activity on files that have been out "too long" is
based on the charge oute, The file elerks spot check charge
outs as they file material and fallow up on those that seem
too old. USIA does not have any periodic inventory of their
files and their activity runs about 500 charges per. week,
6. The National Securit A ene mown to have the tightest
controls bn personne es, ey also have the Lowest
volume. They maintain a current list of persons anthori4ed
to charge out personnel files. When oneof these individuals
wants a file, he fills out s two part charge form. These -
charge forms are maintained in a bin until the file is returtie4.
When a file is sent to an Individual, the second copy Of the
charge form is sent with the file and is signed off by the
recipient and returned to the Files Section where it is matched
up with the original eharge ham Files that muut be forwarded
out of the building are sent by their courier system in metal
eeetainers and the ovmbere uf the container that holds the
file is noted ot the charge form. In this manner, if there is
a mishap onroute, they can identify which pereonnel files were
missing. They have no stipulated time limit for file charm
but their volume of charge outs runs only about 110 per week.
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7. An examination of the problems encountered in the
Agency personnel filo control system do not seem to bear
out the Inspector Genera1 Survey commont8 ae interpreted
in TRE. If unloeated files are to be defined *8 files
that are missing or not accounted for, then it is indeed
unusual for them to remain unlocated for weeks or months
at a time. In the past ten years, perhaps eight cases of
this nature occurred which required the creation of dup/i-
Cate files.- In all of those casen, the component acknow-
ledged the receipt of the files, but could not 'locate the
files within its own components. In all of the above cases,
the Official Personnel Files have been recovered eventually
within tho Component originally charged with the file,
8. The problems encountered by Ti have not been
with files that are missing beeause components deny having
received the Mee, but rather delaye in receiving files
back fro* cemponents or in tracking them through the inter-
nal logging proeedure as they are forwarded within the
componente. In all, this delay in obtaining files results
in a later effective date on pernaps two actioes'per pay
periods These, of course, would be reassignment setions
and not money actions. Any delays in receiving files
that might possibly effect the effective date of money
actions are brought to the Chief or Deputy Chief of TM
and resolved in time to adhere to the original effective
date.
9. In summary, the Agency system seems to stack up
fairly well against those used in other Agencies for con-
trolling the Personnel files. The possible exception of
NSA is modified by their very low volume of activity,
They handle 110 file chargee per week to our 1,727, A
receipting system would seem to require a good deal of
effort to maintain with very little benefit beeause oar
file control problems do not reside in a component's denial
of receiving a file, but in its loss within the component's
own confines, It is this last point that seen ts4 to point
to a better solution to file control n some sort of comput-
erized file charge delinquent system 'Monitored by Tits,
A proposal outlining such a possible eyetem will be for-
warded by TRB ix the near future,
25X1 A9a
rvixotif.. .
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