What legal or FOIA routes exist to seek privately held medical or draft‑board records from the 1960s and 1970s?
Executive summary
Access to privately held medical or local draft‑board records from the 1960s–1970s is not straightforward: the Freedom of Information Act only compels federal agencies to disclose records in their custody, and many relevant personnel and medical files (especially recent, non‑archival files) remain under military or agency control and are restricted by the Privacy Act and FOIA exemptions [1] [2] [3]. For military service and medical files there are defined administrative routes — notably the Standard Form 180 and FOIA requests to the appropriate federal custodian or NARA when records are archival — but publicly accessible release is limited by privacy exemptions, custodial status (archival vs non‑archival), and lengthy processing timelines [4] [5] [6] [7] [8].
1. What FOIA covers and what it does not: federal custodians only
The Freedom of Information Act gives the public a statutory right to request records from federal executive branch agencies, but it applies only to records the agencies possess and can be withheld under nine statutory exemptions such as personal privacy and law enforcement interests [1] [2]. FOIA does not reach private parties, nor does it obligate state or local entities to respond; for non‑federal draft‑board or privately held medical records, FOIA is therefore not a direct legal route [1]. The government’s FOIA portals and agency offices are the correct entry points only when the records sought are in federal custody [2].
2. Military medical and personnel records: SF‑180 and NARA pathways
Requests for military service and related medical records typically start with the Standard Form 180 (SF‑180), which is the formal form used to locate and request military records and specifies whether a request is for archival material (which depends on how long ago the service ended) or for non‑archival records still in Department of Defense custody [4] [9]. The National Archives (NARA) handles archival military personnel files (with specific rules about separations more than 62 years ago and different handling for records after 1960), while more recent files remain under DoD custody and are processed under FOIA/Privacy Act rules [5] [3] [6].
3. Privacy Act limits, releasable content, and next‑of‑kin limits
Even when a federal agency holds the records, release to the general public is constrained: the Privacy Act and FOIA carve out protections for individual privacy, and access to non‑archival records often depends on whether the requester is the veteran, next‑of‑kin, or has written authorization [6] [3]. Agencies interpret the balance between transparency and individual privacy differently in practice, so identical requests may yield different redactions or denials across services and facilities [3] [7].
4. Practical FOIA mechanics: how to make a stronger request
FOIA and agency guidance emphasize that requests must be in writing, reasonably describe the records sought, and often include willingness to pay fees or justification for a fee waiver; many agencies accept electronic submissions and maintain FOIA offices or web portals to start requests [10] [7] [2]. For VA medical records specifically, the VA maintains FOIA offices at facilities and requires signed requests for records implicating personal privacy, with instructions to submit to the facility that maintains the records [11].
5. Timing, delays, and litigation realities
FOIA can be slow, especially for voluminous historic files: federal agencies have defended multi‑year production schedules for large requests and courts have sometimes forced agencies to accelerate disclosures when proposed timelines were unreasonable [8]. Requesters should expect potential months or years of processing, the possibility of exemptions being asserted, and the need to appeal administrative denials or litigate to compel release in narrow circumstances [8] [2].
6. What the reporting does not cover and next steps for non‑federal records
The collected sources document federal FOIA routes, military record procedures, and agency offices, but they do not provide specific procedures for obtaining privately held medical records or draft‑board files under state or local custody; those avenues are governed by state public‑records laws, privacy statutes, and custodian‑specific policies, and may require different legal tools or consent that are not detailed in these sources [1] [2]. Where records are outside federal custody, the available federal FOIA and SF‑180 paths will not compel release, and researchers must identify the actual custodian (local board, private physician, hospital, archive) and consult applicable state law or the custodian’s policies.