According to the Department of Justice Summary of Annual FOIA Reports for FY 2017, almost $3 million dollars were collected in FOIA fees last year. Whether you’re new to FOIA or a seasoned vet, there’s a pretty high chance that the records you need will come at a price. Best case scenario, your charges are reasonable […]
Read More… from MuckRock: Share your story and help us fight FOIA fees around the country
There are a lot of factors when it comes to determining your FOIA request cost, but one of the key ones is which requester category you fall under. Under FOIA fee regulations, there are three broad categories of requesters, and making sure you are classified correctly can mean getting the documents for free or a reasonable fee and being asked to pay thousands – or even hundreds of thousands – of dollars.
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In Baltimore, it’s recently gotten significantly more expensive to ask the police department for emails under freedom of information laws, which allow journalists and the public to request public governmental records. Here’s the kicker: that change comes shortly after the release of an embarrassing email exchange revealing an officer and a prosecutor making fun of a sexual assault victim.
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Read More… from Baltimore police department makes it ‘prohibitively expensive’ to make FOIA requests
A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a lower court ruling that imposed burdensome requirements on a fledgling nonprofit that prevented it from obtaining public-interest or news-media fee waivers under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
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Read More… from DC Circuit Clarifies Public-Interest and News-Media Fee Waivers Under FOIA
(CN) – Two professors are entitled to lower processing fees for a public records request because its purpose is educational and journalistic, a federal judge ruled.
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Unifying for Florence, a local advocacy group, filed a public records request for three years worth of emails between top officials in Florence Unified School District. The district responded, saying the information was available for a price: $42,202.50.
Using simple math, the district is saying Superintendent Amy Fuller exchanges an average of 118 pages of email with her assistant superintendents and board members each day, including weekends and holidays.
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Read More… from AZ: Public records are available at a high price
A recent Illinois appellate court decision should remind government entities that charging a fee for a FOIA request should not be assessed without due care. In Sage Information Services v. Suhr, 2014 IL App (2d) 130708, the plaintiffs requested "a copy, on CD or similar electronic media, of the current real property assessment record file for the entire county, together with an electronic copy of the sales file" from the Supervisor of Assessments.
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Read More… from The Cost-Only Rule Applies To FOIA Fees For Illinois Property Tax Records
How do the federal courts define who is a legitimate "representative of the news media"? According to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, that's "any person or organization which regularly publishes or disseminates information to the public."
But does a nonprofit watchdog group that advocates and litigates on behalf of the public's right to know what the government is doing also qualify as a representative of the news media?
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Read More… from Cause of Action asks court to stop FTC abuse of FOIA fee waiver authority
A Charleston attorney predicts the state Supreme Court’s ruling will have a “chilling effect” on West Virginia’s residents seeking public documents through FOIA requests.
The 4-1 ruling, issued April 10, effectively clears the way for government organizations to charge hourly fees to fulfill requests for public documents filed through the Freedom of Information Act.
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Read More… from Charleston attorney criticizes Supreme Court allowance of FOIA fees
