FOIA Gen
Finding the right agency
In FOIA Gen, choose Agencies. The directory lists every body FOIA Gen knows that takes public records requests. Two ways to find the one you need work together: filters, and asking.
Watch the video
Finding the Right Agency3:43 videoWhat's in the directory
| Federal agencies | Every federal agency and component, from FOIA.gov, the federal government's own FOIA directory, with the contacts and processing times it publishes. |
|---|---|
| State and local bodies | Counties, cities and towns, townships, special districts (housing, water, transit, hospitals and more), school districts, public colleges and universities, and police departments and sheriffs. They come from public government directories: the US Census Bureau's Census of Governments, the national directories of school districts and colleges, and the FBI's list of law-enforcement agencies. |
Those directories say which bodies exist and where, not how each one takes requests. So most state and local bodies show How to submit: being confirmed in the list, and their Rules card is labelled Not yet confirmed and says How to submit is being confirmed until their records contact is confirmed. You can still choose one, write your request and decide how to send it; the card links the body's website where the directory has one. If you know a body's records contact, Report outdated details on its card tells us.
A police department and its city are separate entries, because each answers its own requests: the police department's card names the city it belongs to. Sheriffs are listed with their county, and campus police with their college. A state police force or highway patrol is one statewide entry, not one per post or county.
Narrow it down with filters
The filters on the left narrow the list one step at a time. Each option shows how many agencies it leaves, and an option no agency in the directory has yet is not shown:
| Place | A state (or Federal (US)), then a county, then a city or town. With a state chosen, Include federal agencies adds the federal ones too. |
|---|---|
| Level of government | Federal, State, County, City & town, Township, School & university, Special district, Courts (separate rules) and Tribal. Courts are listed apart because court records usually follow court rules rather than the public records law. |
| Type of body | Police & sheriff, Clerk & records office, Jails & corrections, Schools & universities and more. |
| How they take requests | Email (FOIA Gen will send it for you), Portal (FOIA Gen guides you through the agency's own website), Mail only (FOIA Gen writes the letter and tells you how to send it), Fax (FOIA Gen writes the letter for you to print and fax), or Not known yet (not confirmed so far). |
| Confirmed contact details only | Only agencies whose contact details have been confirmed. |
Each filter you pick shows as a chip above the list; press its × to remove it, or Clear all. Search by name finds an agency by its name or abbreviation, matching the start of each word you type: trav sher finds the Travis County Sheriff. It also matches an agency's county and city, so the agencies whose own name matches come first.
Or just ask
Type a question in the box at the top, for example Who keeps jail body-camera video in Austin?, and press Find it. FOIA Gen says which kind of office usually holds those records and lists the agencies that match. It only ever lists agencies in the directory; check the Rules card before you rely on a suggestion.
Signed in to VeraGen? Press Guide me on any screen for a walkthrough, or ask Odin.