Open Records Laws in United States

Response Timeline

Business days. Extension allowed for unusual circumstances: need to search multiple offices, voluminous records, or consultation with other agencies.

Any person can make a FOIA request, including foreign nationals and organizations. No citizenship or residency requirement.

How to Submit a Request

Accepted Methods

• Email
• Mail
• Portal
• Fax

Most agencies have online FOIA portals. Some accept email requests. FOIAonline.gov handles requests for multiple agencies.

Email or portal?

The law does not clearly say whether a specific submission channel can be required, and no controlling court decision has resolved it.

The federal Freedom of Information Act does not require a request to be in writing, but 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3)(A) makes a request enforceable only if it is made in accordance with published rules stating the time, place, fees (if any), and procedures to be followed, and 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(1) directs each agency to publish the methods whereby the public may make submittals or requests. The statute thus lets each agency set its own request procedures, but it does not say whether an agency may designate an online portal as the sole channel and refuse a request sent by email or mail. Agency regulations to date still list email and mail alongside portals (for example DHS at 6 C.F.R. 5.3, under which components can receive requests either through email or a web portal), so no agency has squarely mandated portal-only intake and the lawfulness of doing so is untested.

• 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(1), (a)(3)(A)
• 6 C.F.R. 5.3 (DHS FOIA regulations)

No controlling case law identified on whether an agency may reject a FOIA request solely because it was not submitted through a designated online portal.

DHS illustrates the current posture: it steers requesters to its online submission form (recorded in our data as preferred_method portal, portal_requires_account false) yet still publishes foia@hq.dhs.gov, and its components (CISA, FEMA, ICE, TSA, USCIS, Secret Service, FLETC) accept requests at component FOIA email addresses. No DHS component conditions acceptance on portal use.

Last reviewed 2026-07-18.

Required Elements

• Description — Reasonably describe the records sought with enough detail for agency to locate them
• Fee category — Indicate whether request is commercial, educational, news media, or other
• Fee waiver request — If seeking fee waiver, explain how disclosure is in the public interest

Optional Elements

• Preferred format — Specify if you want electronic copies
• Expedited processing — If urgent, explain compelling need
• Fee limit — State maximum amount willing to pay

Fees

Fee Type	Amount	Notes
Search (hourly)	USD20.00	First 2 hours free
Copies (per page)	USD0.10	First 100 pages free

Agencies must provide cost estimates before processing if fees will be significant. You can limit fees by narrowing your request or setting a fee cap.

Fee Waivers

• Disclosure is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester
• Representative of the news media - entity organized and operated to publish or broadcast news to the public
• Preschool, elementary, secondary, or higher education institution, or noncommercial scientific institution
• Some agencies waive fees for requesters who demonstrate inability to pay

Fee waiver requests must be made at time of initial request. Partial fee waivers are possible. Appeal fee waiver denials through agency's FOIA appeal process.

Exemptions

• National Security (b)(1)
  Classified information concerning national defense or foreign policy
• Internal Personnel Rules (b)(2)
  Internal personnel rules and practices of an agency
• Statutory Exemptions (b)(3)
  Information specifically exempted by other statutes
• Trade Secrets/Commercial (b)(4)
  Trade secrets and commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential
• Deliberative Process (b)(5)
  Inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda that would not be available in litigation
• Personal Privacy (b)(6)
  Personnel, medical, and similar files where disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy
• Law Enforcement (b)(7)
  Law enforcement records or information
• Financial Institutions (b)(8)
  Information related to examination, operating, or condition reports of financial institutions
• Geological Information (b)(9)
  Geological and geophysical information concerning wells

Agencies must release reasonably segregable non-exempt portions. Exemptions are discretionary unless disclosure is prohibited by law. FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires foreseeable harm standard - agencies must reasonably foresee harm from disclosure.

Appeal Process

Administrative appeals are mandatory before court action. Keep copies of all correspondence. OGIS can help resolve disputes informally at any stage.

Request Templates

Records Retention

44 U.S.C. Chapter 33 (Disposal of Records); 44 U.S.C. Chapter 31 (Records Management by Federal Agencies); 36 CFR Chapter XII, Subchapter B

View retention law →

Retention schedule catalog →

NARA issues General Records Schedules (GRS) providing disposition authority for records common to multiple federal agencies, and approves agency-specific schedules via SF 115 requests. All federal records must be covered by a NARA-approved disposition authority before destruction.

Sources & References

• Full text of law →
• Primary source →
• FOIA.gov →
• DOJ Office of Information Policy →
• RCFP Federal FOIA Guide →
• OGIS — Office of Government Information Services →

Bodies Covered

Which kinds of public body this law applies to, with the statutory basis for each claim.

Body type	Status	Statutory basis
Agencies and statutory bodies	Covered	5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(f)(1) (the FOIA 'agency' extends the Sec. 551(1) definition to include any executive department, military department, Government corporation, Government controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch (including the Executive Office of the President), or any independent regulatory agency) Executive departments and independent agencies are FOIA agencies; FOIA reaches the 'agency records' they created or obtained and control at the time of the request.
Independent commissions	Covered	5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(f)(1) (the FOIA 'agency' extends the Sec. 551(1) definition to include any executive department, military department, Government corporation, Government controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch (including the Executive Office of the President), or any independent regulatory agency) Independent regulatory commissions are agencies under Sec. 552(f)(1).
Land management agencies	Covered	5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(f)(1) (the FOIA 'agency' extends the Sec. 551(1) definition to include any executive department, military department, Government corporation, Government controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch (including the Executive Office of the President), or any independent regulatory agency) Federal land-management agencies (BLM, NPS, USFS, FWS) are agency components.
Research institutes	Covered	5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(f)(1) (the FOIA 'agency' extends the Sec. 551(1) definition to include any executive department, military department, Government corporation, Government controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch (including the Executive Office of the President), or any independent regulatory agency) Covered where a federal agency or agency component; verify per body.
Courts	Not covered	5 U.S.C. Sec. 551(1) (an 'agency' is an authority of the Government of the United States; the Congress (Sec. 551(1)(A)) and the courts of the United States (Sec. 551(1)(B)) are excluded) The courts of the United States are excluded from 'agency' (Sec. 551(1)(B)); access to judicial records follows PACER and Judicial Conference policy, not FOIA.
Federal categories	Not covered	5 U.S.C. Sec. 551(1) (an 'agency' is an authority of the Government of the United States; the Congress (Sec. 551(1)(A)) and the courts of the United States (Sec. 551(1)(B)) are excluded) A grouping label, not an authority of the Government of the United States, so not an 'agency' under Sec. 551(1).
Interstate compact bodies	Not covered	5 U.S.C. Sec. 551(1) (an 'agency' is an authority of the Government of the United States; the Congress (Sec. 551(1)(A)) and the courts of the United States (Sec. 551(1)(B)) are excluded) Interstate-compact entities are creatures of state law consented to by Congress, not federal agencies; member-state public-records laws may apply.
National government	Not covered	5 U.S.C. Sec. 551(1) (an 'agency' is an authority of the Government of the United States; the Congress (Sec. 551(1)(A)) and the courts of the United States (Sec. 551(1)(B)) are excluded) The United States itself is not an 'agency' (an authority of the Government) under Sec. 551(1); its departments and agencies are.
All other public bodies	Covered	5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(f)(1) (the FOIA 'agency' extends the Sec. 551(1) definition to include any executive department, military department, Government corporation, Government controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch (including the Executive Office of the President), or any independent regulatory agency) FOIA applies to federal agencies as defined in Sec. 552(f)(1). Verify a specific body against the agency definition (Congress, the courts, and advisory-only Executive Office units are not agencies).

Coverage notes

• The 'agency' boundary: who is and is not covered FOIA reaches federal agencies as defined in Sec. 552(f)(1). It does not reach the Congress or the courts of the United States (Sec. 551(1)), and it does not reach the President or units of the Executive Office of the President whose sole function is to advise and assist the President. Government corporations and government-controlled corporations are agencies. From a covered agency, FOIA reaches the 'agency records' it created or obtained and controls at the time of the request. 5 U.S.C. Sec. 551(1) (an 'agency' is an authority of the Government of the United States; the Congress (Sec. 551(1)(A)) and the courts of the United States (Sec. 551(1)(B)) are excluded) · U.S. Dep't of Justice v. Tax Analysts, 492 U.S. 136 (1989) · Kissinger v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 445 U.S. 136 (1980) · Forsham v. Harris, 445 U.S. 169 (1980)
• The nine FOIA exemptions, Sec. 552(b)(1)-(9) A covered agency may withhold records falling within nine exemptions: national defense/foreign policy classified information (b1); internal personnel rules (b2); information exempted by other statute (b3); trade secrets and confidential commercial or financial information (b4); privileged inter/intra-agency deliberative, attorney-client, or work-product material (b5); personnel, medical, and similar files whose disclosure would invade personal privacy (b6); law-enforcement records (b7); financial-institution examination records (b8); and geological and geophysical well data (b9). These limit what is released, not which bodies are covered. 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(b)(1)-(9) (the nine FOIA exemptions)
• Glomar responses Where the very existence or nonexistence of records is itself exempt (commonly under b1 or b7), an agency may refuse to confirm or deny that responsive records exist. 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(b)(1)-(9) (the nine FOIA exemptions)