Wiretap Reports
Each federal and state judge is required to file a written report with the
Director of the
Administrative
Office of the United States Courts (AO) on each application for an order
authorizing the interception of a wire, oral, or electronic communication (18
U.S.C. 2519(1)). The AO reports to Congress the number and nature of federal and
state applications for orders authorizing or approving the interception of wire,
oral, or electronic communications. No report to the AO is required for the use
of a pen register (a device attached to a telephone line that records or decodes
impulses identifying the numbers dialed from that line) unless the pen register
is used in conjunction with any wiretap devices whose use must be reported. The
report covers intercepts concluded during each calendar year, and provides
supplementary information on arrests and convictions resulting from intercepts
concluded in prior years.
