You have to ask for a specific record or type of written document that’s already been produced. The Freedom of Information Act doesn’t allow you to ask questions of a federal agency. Hey, what time is it in Washington, D.C.? What day of the month was someone born? Those are questions about information, but they’re not questions about records. In fact, the Freedom of Information Act shouldn’t even really be called the Freedom of Information Act. It should be called the Freedom to Ask for Records Act, because that’s what you have the right to do. Ask for records that have already been produced.

Here’s a list of some things that should be included in a FOIA request. First and foremost, your name, your telephone number, your email address, your address, some basic information about you. So the person that receives this FOIA request can contact you. You want to make sure that you also have the time period for your request.

The federal government has been around for a long time, so you want to make sure you’re asking for records that have been created or acquired by that federal agency within two dates. Otherwise, they won’t know what years to even be searching. Another important thing is to think about the geography of your request. Where are these records? Are these records for the entire world? Are they for your part of the United States? Did this incident occur in a specific place? That’s another way to limit your request and to help the agency figure out what records they might have. That would be responsive to your requests.

Another big thing is to make sure you ask for a fee waiver if you’re entitled to one. What’s a fee waiver? Well, the federal government requires that you pay for the search for the records, and so you are obligated to pay twenty five dollars for a search. But if it costs more than that, you want to make sure that if you’re eligible, you ask for a fee waiver. Public interest organizations and journalists are the most common categories of people who get fee waivers.

I keep using the word records. These are the types of records that you might consider asking for, or if you don’t think they apply, then don’t ask for. Let’s talk about the obvious documents, letters, emails, text messages, reports. Things that are tangible videos, audio tape, recordings, transcripts. These are all examples of the word records. When in doubt, I usually ask for all records. I use that phrase “all records”. But when I am zeroing in on something, I really know that an agency has that I want, I ask for that type of record. In your request. I recommend that people discuss why they want the records. The reason for that is that the federal government under the Freedom of Information Act, doesn’t really need to know why you want the records. But if you include a paragraph in your request that explains why you want the records that will help the agency try to find the records that you’re asking for.

To file a Freedom of Information Act request, it’s important that you first locate the name and address of the Freedom of Information Act officer of the agency that you’re asking for the records. It’s really important that you send the records request using certified mail return receipt requested. You could go through an agency’s email system, you could go through their FOIA portal. But the problem with that is it requires them to respond to your request where if you send the request through the mail, you have a postal record when they receive it. It’s very important to know that a FOIA request isn’t valid until the agency receives the request, not when you make the request. It’s when they received the request.