The Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) held its 40th annual conference earlier this month in Philadelphia, PA. COGEL is the preeminent organization of government ethics administrators, and its members work in the fields of governmental ethics, freedom of information (FOI), elections, lobbying and campaign finance. Members include governmental entities (state, local, and foreign) educational … Continue reading Freedom (of Information) Rings at COGEL 2018
In this season of gratitude, we at OGIS would like to pause and give thanks for: FOIA professionals: Our work resolving FOIA disputes and evaluating compliance brings us into contact with many FOIA professionals from many agencies. We are thankful for how hard they work every single day to carefully balance the interests of disclosure … Continue reading OGIS gives thanks for…
The intersection of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and records management will be the focus of the next FOIA Advisory Committee meeting on November 29, 2018, in the William G. McGowan Theater at the National Archives in Washington, DC. The meeting, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., is the second of the 2018-2020 term … Continue reading Next FOIA Advisory Committee Meeting: November 29, 2018
Today we present an interview with Ginger McCall, who recently became the Oregon Public Records Advocate. Ginger is in her third term on the FOIA Advisory Committee. Over the next year, we will interview other members of the Advisory Committee so that you can get to know them better. Why did you seek to serve … Continue reading Getting to Know the FOIA Advisory Committee: Ginger McCall
The Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council met on October 4th to discuss the Final Report and Recommendations issued by the 2016-2018 term of the FOIA Advisory Committee and related guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy (OIP). What follows are a few highlights from the presentation: Archivist of the United … Continue reading Wrap Up of October CFO Council Meeting
Did you know that October is Conflict Resolution Month? While we at OGIS believe that Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is important every month, we are also happy to have an excuse to highlight our ADR activities. OGIS’s Mediation Program We offer dispute resolution services, including mediation and other informal processes such as facilitation or conciliation, … Continue reading Happy Dispute Resolution Month from OGIS!
No other category of records is requested more frequently through through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) than immigration-related records. But figuring out which of numerous Federal agencies have which records can be daunting. OGIS, along with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, hosted a special forum on immigration records on August 30, 2018, at the … Continue reading Focus on Immigration Records
Don't miss out on the opportunity to register for the upcoming Multi-Agency Forum on Using FOIA to Access Immigration Records. OGIS—along with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)—will co-host a special forum on immigration records on August 30, 2018. This event will bring together representatives of a number of agencies, including: USCIS U.S. Department of State … Continue reading Upcoming Forum on Accessing Immigration Records
As the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Ombudsman, one of OGIS’s important functions is to help FOIA requesters better understand how the FOIA process works. We do this by working directly with those who contact our office and by making a variety of resources available on our website While many of the requests for assistance … Continue reading Have a FOIA Question? We are Here to Help
“Change” was 2015’s word of the year for the FOIA Ombudsman. In a year of great change for OGIS, I may have been the most obvious one: I took over as the office’s second Director in August 2015. When I accepted the job, I knew that as the FOIA Ombudsman I could have a much … Continue reading New Year’s Message from the FOIA Ombudsman
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