How can you get government records and attend meetings?

#How a federal records request works

Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, in 1966, and it has given the public a right to request federal agency records since 1967. Generally any person can ask, whether or not a US citizen. A request must reasonably describe the records and follow the agency’s published rules. The agency then has 20 working days to decide whether to comply and to give notice, though unusual circumstances can extend the time and foia.gov says backlogs affect response times. A requester can file an administrative appeal and can sue in federal district court, where the agency has the burden of justifying its decision. No fee is required to file. For a typical requester, there is usually no charge for the first two hours of search time or the first 100 pages of duplication.

#What FOIA does not cover

The Justice Department says FOIA does not provide access to records held by Congress, the federal courts, advisory offices of the president, state or local government agencies, or private businesses or individuals. In Kissinger v. Reporters Committee (1980), the Supreme Court held that notes Henry Kissinger made as an assistant to the president were not agency records, even after they were moved to his State Department office.

Within the agencies it covers, FOIA has nine exemptions. They protect classified national defense and foreign policy material, internal personnel rules, information other statutes protect, trade secrets, certain internal memos, personal privacy, certain law enforcement records, bank examination reports and geological data about wells. If only part of a record is exempt, the agency must release any “reasonably segregable portion.”

#Open meetings and state laws

The federal Government in the Sunshine Act (1976) covers agencies headed by a body of two or more members, most of them appointed by the president with Senate consent. It says “every portion of every meeting” is open to public observation, with 10 exemptions, and it generally requires a week’s notice.

States write their own rules. The Justice Department says all states have statutes on public access to state and local records, and the National Conference of State Legislatures says all 50 states have open meetings laws. The details differ. A state’s records law can give its right of access to that state’s citizens only. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld such a limit in McBurney v. Young on April 29, 2013.