§ 3202. — Penalty mail.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 39USC3202]
TITLE 39--POSTAL SERVICE
PART IV--MAIL MATTER
CHAPTER 32--PENALTY AND FRANKED MAIL
Sec. 3202. Penalty mail
(a) Subject to the limitations imposed by sections 3204 and 3207 of
this title, there may be transmitted as penalty mail--
(1) official mail of--
(A) officers of the Government of the United States other
than Members of Congress;
(B) the Smithsonian Institution;
(C) the Pan American Union;
(D) the Pan American Sanitary Bureau;
(E) the United States Employment Service and the system of
employment offices operated by it in conformity with the
provisions of sections 49-49c, 49d, 49e-49k of title 29, and all
State employment systems which receive funds appropriated under
authority of those sections; and
(F) any college officer or other person connected with the
extension department of the college as the Secretary of
Agriculture may designate to the Postal Service to the extent
that the official mail consists of correspondence, bulletins,
and reports for the furtherance of the purpose of sections 341-
343 and 344-348 of title 7;
(2) mail relating to naturalization to be sent to the
Immigration and Naturalization Service by clerks of courts addressed
to the Department of Justice or the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, or any official thereof;
(3) mail relating to a collection of statistics, survey, or
census authorized by title 13 and addressed to the Department of
Commerce or a bureau or agency thereof; and
(4) mail of State agriculture experiment stations pursuant to
sections 325 and 361f of title 7.
(b) A department or officer authorized to use penalty covers may
enclose them with return address to any person from or through whom
official information is desired. The penalty cover may be used only to
transmit the official information and endorsements relating thereto.
(c) This section does not apply to officers who receive a fixed
allowance as compensation for their services including expenses of
postage.
(Pub. L. 91-375, Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 751; Pub. L. 94-553,
Sec. 105(e), Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2599; Pub. L. 103-123, title VII,
Sec. 708(b), Oct. 28, 1993, 107 Stat. 1272.)
Amendments
1993--Subsec. (a)(3), (4). Pub. L. 103-123 inserted ``and'' at end
of par. (3) and substituted period for ``; and'' at end of par. (4).
1976--Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 94-553 struck out par. (5) which
related to articles for copyright deposited with postmasters and
addressed to the Register of Copyrights pursuant to section 15 of title
17.
Effective Date of 1976 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 94-553 effective Jan. 1, 1978, see section 102
of Pub. L. 94-553, set out as an Effective Date note preceding section
101 of Title 17, Copyrights.
Abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service and Transfer of
Functions
For abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service, transfer of
functions, and treatment of related references, see note set out under
section 1551 of Title 8, Aliens and Nationality.
Payment of Postage for State Unemployment Compensation Systems and
Employment Services
Pub. L. 92-80, title I, Aug. 10, 1971, 85 Stat. 287, which required
Department of Labor and Post Office Department to use such amounts as
may be agreed upon for the payment of postage for the transmission of
official mail matter in connection with the administration of
unemployment compensation systems and employment services by States
receiving grants, was from the Department of Labor Appropriation Act,
1972, and was not repeated in subsequent appropriation acts. See section
3202(a)(1)(E) of this title.
Similar provisions were contained in the following prior
appropriation acts:
Jan. 11, 1971, Pub. L. 91-667, title I, 84 Stat. 2002.
Mar. 5, 1970, Pub. L. 91-204, title I, 84 Stat. 24.
Oct. 11, 1968, Pub. L. 90-557, title I, 82 Stat. 971.
Nov. 8, 1967, Pub. L. 90-132, title I, 81 Stat. 387.
Nov. 7, 1966, Pub. L. 89-787, title I, 80 Stat. 1379.
Aug. 31, 1965, Pub. L. 89-156, title I, 79 Stat. 590.
Sept. 19, 1964, Pub. L. 88-605, title I, 78 Stat. 960.
Oct. 11, 1963, Pub. L. 88-136, title I, 77 Stat. 226.
Aug. 14, 1962, Pub. L. 87-582, title I, 76 Stat. 363.
Sept. 22, 1961, Pub. L. 87-290, title I, 75 Stat. 591.
Sept. 2, 1960, Pub. L. 86-703, title I, 74 Stat. 757.
Aug. 14, 1959, Pub. L. 86-158, title I, 73 Stat. 341.
Aug. 1, 1958, Pub. L. 85-580, title I, 72 Stat. 459.
June 29, 1957, Pub. L. 85-67, title I, 71 Stat. 212.
June 29, 1956, ch. 477, title I, 70 Stat. 424.
Aug. 1, 1955, ch. 437, title I, 69 Stat. 398.
July 2, 1954, ch. 457, title I, 68 Stat. 435
July 31, 1953, ch. 296, title I, 67 Stat. 246.
July 5, 1952, ch. 575, title I, 66 Stat. 360.
Aug. 31, 1951, ch. 373, title I, 65 Stat. 210.
Sept. 6, 1950, ch. 896, ch. V, title I, 64 Stat. 644.
June 29, 1949, ch. 275, title II, 63 Stat. 293.
June 16, 1948, ch. 472, title I, 62 Stat. 445.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 3203, 3206 of this title;
title 22 section 2905.
