If you’re a frequent visitor to our website (and we hope you are), you might have noticed we’ve added a section for news and materials related to the 2016-2018 term of the FOIA Advisory Committee. The National Archives and Records Administration created the Committee in 2014 to bring together requesters and agency Freedom of Information … Continue reading Gearing Up for the 2016-2018 Term of the Federal FOIA Advisory Committee
Have you made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)? Our Compliance Team wants to hear about your experience. Our compliance review process includes several methods to better understand how an agency FOIA program operates and what kind of challenges or opportunities … Continue reading OGIS Seeks Input on Immigration and Customs Enforcement FOIA Program
If you missed seeing the original Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) signed by President Lyndon Johnson that was on display during our Sunshine Week Event, the National Archives is giving you another opportunity to wish the law a happy 50th birthday in person! We are happy to announce that between June 15 and September 14, … Continue reading More Chances to Wish FOIA A Happy Birthday!
Have you ever spent far too long searching for something on an agency’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) website or thought to yourself, “there are certain types of information that every agency should include on its FOIA website”? If so, mark your calendars and reserve your seat for the June 16, 2016 Requester Roundtable on … Continue reading June 16 Requester Roundtable on FOIA Websites
We recently posted a list of agencies that have taken a step that makes it easier for us to resolve Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disputes. These agencies have a Privacy Act “routine use” that allows the agency to share with OGIS information about FOIA request and appeal files. Agencies store FOIA case files in … Continue reading An Easy Way to Help Us Resolve FOIA Disputes
Do you or your colleagues need help sharpening your communications skills? Would you like to hear tips for avoiding or narrowing disputes with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesters? OGIS is here to help! As you might know, about twice each fiscal year we plan day-long dispute resolution skills training sessions for agency FOIA professionals. … Continue reading Planting the Seeds of Dispute Resolution
During my relatively short tenure as the Director of OGIS, I have endeavored to strengthen and mature OGIS’s mediation and compliance programs. Miriam Nisbet and all of the OGIS staff are to be commended for doing the very hard work of setting up and running a new government program. When I first walked through the … Continue reading Farewell from Director Holzer
As we have discussed the last few weeks, still interested letters are a source of great frustration for many Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesters and can give requesters the appearance that an agency’s FOIA process does not work. For those of you new to the issue, still interested letters refer to correspondence that an … Continue reading OGIS Recommendations Regarding Agency Use of Still Interested Letters
As we reported last week, data on the historical use of “still interested” letters cannot capture the full effect that the letters have on FOIA requesters but show that agencies close very few requests using these letters. For Part 2 of our review of still interested letters, we followed up with seven FOIA programs to … Continue reading Further Findings on the Use of “Still Interested” Letters
Since late last summer, the OGIS Compliance Team has been taking a close look at a controversial practice that some agencies use to close Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The term “still interested letter” is shorthand for correspondence an agency sends to requesters requiring them to affirm that they remain interested in the requested … Continue reading A Deep Dive into the Use of “Still Interested” Letters
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