Filing a FOIA Request

Written requests are the only way to legally assert your FOIA rights. These should be mailed, faxed, e-mailed, or hand-delivered to the relevant agency’s offices, depending on which methods the agency allows. A quick online search of the "agency's name" and "FOIA" should provide you with specific information about how the particular agency accepts FOIA requests. If you can't find the information through an online search, check the Federal Register, which should include this information.

A FOIA request should be addressed to the agency's FOIA officer or the head of the agency. It must include:

1. Your name and contact information, including your address if you want the records mailed to you or your e-mail address if you are requesting that electronic records be e-mailed to you.
2. A statement that you are seeking records under the Freedom of Information Act.
3. A description of the record(s) you are seeking. The only requirement is that you “reasonably describe” the records. Basically, this means that you must give enough information that a record-keeper would be able to find the records without an undue amount of searching. It is generally advisable to make the request as specific as possible, so if you know the title or the date of a particular document, or can precisely describe the class of documents you seek, you should set out these details. Being specific helps you avoid paying fees for records that you actually do not need and helps to expedite your request. See the section on What Records Are Covered in this guide for more information on the types of records you can request.

In addition to the required elements listed above, you might want to include some of the following additional information in your request:

• Your preferred method of contact for any questions about the record(s) you are seeking, whether it be mail, e-mail, or telephone.
• Your preferred medium for receiving the record(s), such as paper, CD-Rom, microfiche, e-mail attachment, etc. (note that you are not always guaranteed to receive the records in your preferred format, but the agency will attempt to honor such requests if possible). See the section on Requesting Electronic Records in this guide for more information.
• You do not need to tell the government organization why you want the information; every person has a right to request records regardless of his or her profession. That said, you may want to inform the record-keeper that you plan to use the information to publish on a matter of public interest.
• A request for a fee waiver or expedited review for your request, if applicable, as discussed in the Costs and Fees and Time Periods under FOIA sections of this guide.
• The maximum fee you are willing to pay for your record(s). You should indicate that you wish to be contacted if the charges will exceed this amount.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the The U.S. Department of State both offer forms that will automatically generate a FOIA request for you. These can be an excellent way to get started.

Where to Send Your Request

Your FOIA request should be addressed to the relevant agency's FOIA officer or the head of the agency. The U.S. Department of Justice has a fairly comprehensive list of FOIA contacts at federal agencies. If the agency you want isn't listed there, you can usually find the information easily by conducting a quick web search; just type in "agency's name" and "FOIA contact."

If you are unsure of which agency to send your request to, the US Government Manual may be of assistance. You will likely receive a faster response if you make your request in accordance with the agency's own FOIA regulations (these can be viewed in the Code of Federal Regulations), but the above minimum requirements are sufficient to make a valid FOIA request.

Time Periods under FOIA

Technically, government organizations must respond to a FOIA request with a denial or grant of access within 20 business days. Note that the agency must only respond within 20 days; it does not have to deliver the records within the 20-day time period. The time period does not begin until the proper agency or office actually receives your request. Furthermore, under the new 2007 FOIA amendments, the agency may exceed the 20-day time limit if it needs to request more information from you in order to process your request.

Agencies may extend this time limit by up to 10 additional working days (they must informing you they are doing so) if one of the following "exceptional circumstances" exists: the record-keeper must search an extraordinary amount of records; the search involves records from multiple offices; or the search involves records from multiple organizations. See the FOIA Guide's section on time limits for a more detailed explanation. If your request cannot be fulfilled within these time periods, the agency may ask you to reasonably modify your request or allow for an alternative time frame.

Realistically, many agencies do not comply with these time limits. Some agencies may have a large backlog of requests, and they are usually permitted to treat requests on a "first come, first served" basis as long as they devote a reasonable amount of staff to responding to the requests. These agencies generally have a processing system that allows simpler requests to be handled quickly so that these requests do not have to "wait in line" behind more complex requests.

However, as of December 1, 2008, FOIA will be amended to require that agencies waive all search and duplication fees if they fail to comply with time limits and none of the "exceptional circumstances" listed above exist. It is yet to be seen if this will speed up agencies' response times.

Expedited processing

FOIA provides for requests to receive “expedited review” if the request meets certain requirements. Generally speaking, you will be entitled to expedited treatment if health and safety are at issue or if there is an urgent public interest in the government activity at issue.

If you think there is a compelling reason why you need the information sooner than the normal period under FOIA, you should clearly explain your reasons in your initial FOIA request. Agencies must decide whether or not to grant expedited processing within 10 calendar days of the request. Aside from these specific circumstances listed above, agencies may use their discretion in deciding whether or not to grant expedited review. So, it doesn’t hurt to ask even if you don’t meet the requirements.

You should also check the individual agency's requirements to see if they allow other types of requests to receive expedited treatment. The Department of Justice, for instance, offers expedited review “for requests concerning issues of government integrity that have already become the object of widespread national media interest” or “if delay might cause the loss of substantial due process rights,” (see the DOJ reference guide section on expedited processing).

Checking the Status of Your Request

Under the 2007 FOIA amendments, the agency must provide you with a tracking number if your request will take longer than 10 days to process. Then, if you haven't heard back from an agency or are unsure about the status of your request, you can use the tracking number to find out more information. Each agency is required to have at least one "FOIA Requester Service Center" that can give information about the status of pending FOIA requests. The agency must tell you the date that it received your request and must give an estimated date that it will complete your request. The centers can generally be contacted by mail, e-mail, or telephone.

If the deadlines have passed and you haven't been able to get any information from the agency about the status of your request, you should review this guide's section entitled What Are Your Remedies Under FOIA to see what your options are.

Costs and Fees

Federal agencies are allowed to charge “reasonable” costs for responding to your FOIA request. This typically includes fees for the time the record-keeper spends searching for the correct documents as well as the cost of duplicating those documents. See 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A).

FOIA breaks down requesters into three categories for determining fees:

• Commercial use requesters, who must pay all fees for search, duplication, and review
• Requesters from the professional media, educational institutions, and scientific institutions, who do not have to pay search fees and only pay duplication costs after the first 100 pages
• All other requestors, who pay search fees after the first two hours and duplication costs after the first 100 pages

Note that this means that small requests should always be free as long as the information is not intended for commercial purposes. Also, you should always be as specific as possible when describing the documents in your initial FOIA request. This will reduce the amount of time that the record-keeper must spend searching for the documents, which will potentially save you money.

Non-traditional journalists generally will fall into the last category -- and thus may be on the hook for search fees -- even if they intend to publish the information in blogs, websites, or other media. If you are not associated with professional media, you can always request that you should be considered under the second category because of your intent to publish. The New FOIA Reform Act, which goes into effect in December 2008, seems to broaden the scope of the "professional media" category. Under the new amendment, a person can be considered part of the news media if he or she gathers information that is of public interest, creates a distinct work, and distributes that work to an audience. However, the Reform Act cautions that this is not an all-inclusive category, so it remains to be seen if bloggers and other citizen journalists will be able to benefit from fee waivers generally only reserved for "professional" media. We've been following this issue in our blog, and you can read more about the new definition here.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press's FOIA Guide breaks down some of the actual fees you can expect to pay:

Search fees generally range from $11 to $28 per hour, based on the salary and benefits of the employee doing the search. Fees for computer time, which are described in each agency’s FOI regulations, vary greatly. They may be as high as $270 per hour. Photocopying costs are normally between 3 and 25 cents per page.

If you think your request could involve a significant amount of search time or copying, make sure your FOIA request includes a limit on the fees you’re willing to pay. You may also want to ask in advance for an estimate of what the expected fees may be.

Here are some additional things to keep in mind when dealing with fee issues:

• Agencies can charge search fees even if they don’t find any documents that satisfy your request, since the futile search still took time.
• As long as you aren’t requesting the information for commercial purposes, agencies cannot charge you for time they spend deciding whether documents should be exempt or time they spend blacking out restricted information from the documents.
• Organizations can’t require you to pay in advance if the expected fee is less than $250 and you don’t have a prior history of failing to make payments with the organization.
• Under FOIA, organizations are required to publish fee schedules in the Federal Register. An organization’s FOI officer should be able to provide you with the schedule, though some are available on organizations’ websites. The fee schedule includes information about how much the particular agency charges for searching, copying, etc.
• You can always try asking the organization to waive or reduce fees, even if you haven't formally requested a fee waiver.

Fee waivers and fee reductions

Under the Freedom of Information Reform Act of 1986, your FOIA requests could be eligible for total or partial waiver of fees if you can show that the disclosure of the information is in the public interest—even if you aren’t a professional journalist. This requires that you specifically request a waiver or reduction of fees and explain why you think the public has an interest in understanding the information. See the DOJ's FOIA Guide for more information about the "public interest" fee waiver. You also must explain any financial interest you have in the information, though a financial stake in publishing the information -- such as if you are paid to blog -- should not pose a problem.

Agencies consider fee waiver requests on a case-by-case basis. You can appeal fee or waiver decisions in the same way you appeal request denials. See the section on What Are Your Remedies Under FOIA in this guide for more information.