FOIA Gen
Reading a Rules card
Open any agency in Agencies to see its Rules card: everything you need to know before you file, each fact with its source.
Watch the video
Finding the Right Agency3:43 video| How it takes requests | The box at the top says whether the agency takes requests by email, through its own portal, or by mail only, and what FOIA Gen will do for each. |
|---|---|
| What to know before you file | What this agency, and its state's law, is particular about: a portal it requires, records that must be asked for separately, short windows to act. |
| The law | The public records law that applies, with its citation linked to the text. |
| Deadlines | How long the agency has to acknowledge, decide and provide records, in business days that skip that jurisdiction's holidays, and how long it typically takes when FOIA.gov publishes that figure. |
| Fees | What the agency may charge. |
| Who can request | Whether anyone may ask. A few states give the right only to their own citizens (Virginia, for example) or their own residents, and Pennsylvania only to US residents; the card says so in red, with a tag at the top such as Virginia citizens only, and FOIA Gen asks you to confirm you qualify before you send. |
| If they say no | Where to appeal, and how long you have. |
| Sources | Where each fact comes from and when the law was last checked against the statute. |
The At a glance panel lists the email, portal link, mailing address, phone and website, and a link to the agency's reading room when it has one. Check the reading room first: the records may already be public.
Labels you may see
| Confirmed | The contact details have been checked by VeraGen or confirmed by a real request. |
|---|---|
| From FOIA.gov | The contact details come from the federal government's own FOIA directory. |
| Found on its website, not yet confirmed | Collected from the agency's website and not yet confirmed. |
| Not yet confirmed | Nobody has confirmed this body's records contact yet. The card links its website where the directory has one, and says How to submit is being confirmed. |
| Citizens only, residents only | The law gives the right to ask only to its own citizens or residents (for example Virginia citizens only, US residents only). |
| Being re-checked | A detail we are re-checking is hidden until it is confirmed, rather than risk sending you to the wrong place. |
Something looks wrong?
Press Report outdated details, say what looks wrong, and press Send to the FOIA Index team. Every report is reviewed.
Start a request with this agency opens a new request with the agency already chosen. Writing a request
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