---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 1556"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "1556"
heading: "Ex parte communications prohibited"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/1556"
units:
  - "Subtitle A — General Military Law"
  - "Part II — Personnel"
  - "Chapter 79 — Correction of Military Records"
---

# §1556. Ex parte communications prohibited

- (a) **In General.—** The [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of each [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) [department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) shall ensure that an applicant seeking corrective action by the Army Review Boards [Agency](/usc/10/3451.md?p=3), the [Department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) of the Air Force Review Boards [Agency](/usc/10/3451.md?p=3), or the Board for Correction of Naval [Records](/usc/10/801.md?p=14), as the case may be, is provided a copy of all correspondence and communications (including summaries of verbal communications) to or from the [agency](/usc/10/3451.md?p=3) or board, or a member of the staff of the [agency](/usc/10/3451.md?p=3) or board, with an entity or [person](/usc/10/2700.md?p=2) outside the [agency](/usc/10/3451.md?p=3) or board that pertain directly to the applicant’s case or have a material effect on the applicant’s case.
- (b) **Exceptions.—** [Subsection (a)](#a) does not apply to the following:
  - (1) [Classified information](/usc/10/801.md?p=15).
  - (2) Information the [release](/usc/10/2700.md?p=2) of which is otherwise prohibited by law or regulation.
  - (3) Any [record](/usc/10/801.md?p=14) previously provided to the applicant or known to be possessed by the applicant.
  - (4) Any correspondence that is purely administrative in nature.
  - (5) Any [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) [record](/usc/10/801.md?p=14) that is (or may be) provided to the applicant by the [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of the [military](/usc/10/801.md?p=8) [department](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-6) or other source.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 105–261, div. A, title V, § 543(a)(1), Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2020; amended Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVII, § 1722(j)(2)(B), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 673.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2023—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 118–31 inserted “the Department of” after “the Army Review Boards Agency,”.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Pub. L. 105–261, div. A, title V, § 543(b), Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2021, provided that: “Section 1556 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to correspondence and communications made 60 days or more after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 17, 1998].”