New Guidelines Issued for 2019 Agency Chief FOIA Reports

Dep’t of Justice, Office of Info. Pol’y Blog, Sept. 24, 2018

Last week the Office for Information Policy issued guidelines for the timing and content of agency 2019 Chief FOIA Officer Reports.  The FOIA requires agency Chief FOIA Officers to report to the Attorney General on their performance in implementing the law.  Accordingly, since 2009, the Department of Justice has directed agency Chief FOIA Officers to “review all aspects of their agencies’ FOIA administration” and to report annually to the Department of Justice on the efforts undertaken “to improve FOIA operations and facilitate information disclosure at their agencies.”  

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The 2019 Chief FOIA Officer Report Guidelines once again include separate reporting requirements for agencies depending on the number of FOIA requests received in the prior fiscal year.  For 2019, there are two sets of reporting requirements.  Agencies that received 50 requests or less in Fiscal Year 2017 are again required to provide a short narrative on their implementation of the DOJ’s FOIA Guidelines.  All other agencies receiving more than 50 requests have more extensive reporting requirements. 

Read more here.