OGIS Publishes Annual RMSA Report

by Kimberlee N Ried, posted in Customer service, Government information, OGIS's Reports, Uncategorized
A week in advance of census taking, every farmer receives a questionnaire by mail and fills it out before the enumerator arrives. The enumerator then checks the form and helps the farmer with any difficult questions. Photo by the Dept. of Agriculture. National Archives Identifier 207899868

One in five federal agencies reported using artificial intelligence (AI) and/or machine learning in FOIA processing while two in five reported finding records responsive to a FOIA request that were beyond their retention period. Those are among the findings in OGIS’s latest report, Assessing Freedom of Information Act Compliance through the 2025 National Archives and Records Administration’s Records Management Self-Assessment. Read the report here.

Data collected in the annual Records Management Self-Assessment (RMSA) helps OGIS fulfill its statutory mandate to review agency compliance with FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552(h)(2), and complements the observations OGIS makes as the FOIA Ombuds, working to improve the FOIA process for all. The RMSA for 2025 -administered to agency records officers between March 2026 and May 2026 by the National Archives and Records Administration’s Office of the Chief Records Officer (CRO) – included seven questions regarding FOIA administration. These seven questions were all repeated from the previous year to gain an understanding of trends at a time of significant change in the federal landscape. 

 Key results highlighted in the 2025 assessment include:

  • One in five federal agencies (20.6 percent) reported using artificial intelligence (AI) to assist the FOIA process, a slight uptick from 2024.
  • The use of e-discovery tools by government agencies to conduct FOIA searches has trended upward over the past five years, from 72 percent of respondents who reported doing so on the 2020 RMSA to 80 percent on the 2025 RMSA.
  • More than two in five federal agencies (42.1 percent) reported finding records responsive to a FOIA request that had already reached their approved disposition date—a records management challenge affecting FOIA administration. 
  • Nearly half of Agency Records Officers and Chief FOIA Officers (47.9 percent) work together to identify programs or offices most likely to have responsive records and collaborate on high-profile or complex FOIA requests.
  • Four in five (80.9 percent) federal agencies (80.9 percent) reported their Agency Records Officer or records management staff received some FOIA training.

Since 2016, our partnership with the CRO on the RMSA has allowed OGIS to gather data about FOIA operations from almost every agency that is subject to FOIA. OGIS’s participation in the RMSA is crucial because a strong records management program – which allows agencies to find records responsive to FOIA request – is essential to a successful FOIA program.