U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Polygraph and Prepublication Review Policies of Federal Agencies

NCJ Number
98453
Journal
Polygraph Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1984) Pages: 231-243
Author(s)
F C Conahan
Date Published
1984
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This letter from the director of the General Accounting Office to the Chairman of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee presents Federal agencies response data to questions regarding polygraph and prepublication review policies.
Abstract
Most agency employees with access to sensitive compartmented information reported having already signed nondisclosure agreements with the prepublication review requirement before that provision was suspended in 1984. Four agencies reported having 43 unauthorized disclosures of classified information during 1983. Survey data show that of polygraph examinations given in 1983, the vast majority were given by the Department of Defense. Practically all examinations conducted by other agencies were given in connection with criminal or specific-incident investigations. While data from the Departments of Justice and Treasury were not available, they also use polygraph for pre-access screening, and the Federal Emergency Management agency intends to institute polygraph screening for its special access programs. Enclosures include questions from and responses to the House Committee, tabular data on the use of prepublication review, employee clearances, and polygraph screening by Federal agencies, and a statement on the use of polygraph screening by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.