Access to Records from State Governments

You can access a vast number of state government records by using your state's freedom of information law. All fifty states and the District of Columbia have freedom of information laws granting public access to state government records, most of which are based at least in part on the federal FOIA. However, the laws can vary widely from who can make the requests, to which government body is required to provide access to its records, to the formalities a request must meet.

Choose your state from the list below for state-specific information on accessing each state's public records. (Note: This guide currently covers only the 15 most populous states and the District of Columbia. We hope to add additional states to the guide at a later date.)