Mark Your Calendar For Sunshine Week 2023
NARA/OGIS, FOIA Ombudsman, Mar. 2, 2023
Make plans to join us as we kick off Sunshine Week, an annual nationwide celebration of access to public information, with a panel discussion on “Making Access Happen: FOIA at the National Archives” on Monday, March 13, at 1 p.m. ET. The event will be live-streamed on the National Archives YouTube Channel.
Read more here.
By DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, Mar. 2, 2023
This week, the Office of Information Policy (OIP) posted the Department’s 2022 FOIA Litigation and Compliance Report. In accordance with the FOIA, each year the Department of Justice submits to Congress and the President a report detailing our efforts to encourage agency compliance with the FOIA. The report also contains a listing of all FOIA litigation cases received and decided in the prior calendar year. The report highlights the many ways that OIP works to provide guidance, trainings, and counseling to agencies to assist them in their FOIA administration and to promote agency accountability.
Read more here.
Federal agencies received a total of 928,316 FOIA requests in FY 2022, according to data now available on FOIA.gov, shattering the previous high of 863,729 requests in FY 2018. Although agencies processed a record-breaking number of requests, as well (878,363), the request backlog grew from 153,227 to 206,719—a 34 percent increase.
Some additional data of note:
Appeal backlog stood at 4,709, a slight decrease from 4.734 in FY 2021
Total processing costs were $543.7 million, up from $522.8 million in FY 2021
Total litigation costs were $40.9 million, up from $38.5 million in FY 2021
Total processing fees collected from requesters were $2.19 milion, up from $2.09 million in FY 2021.
DHS received the most requests (539,807), followed by DOJ (93,370), and DOD (54,004).
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which receives more FOIA requests than any other federal agency, released its FY 2022 annual FOIA report on March 2nd, a day after the reporting deadline Here are the highlights:
Received 541,057 requests, a 22.2 percent increase from FY 2021, when it received 442,650 requests.
Processed 506,032 requests, a 8.2 percent increase from FY 2021, when it processed 467,347 requests.
Received 7,394 appeals, a 6.7 percent increase from FY 2021, when it received 6,908 appeals
Processed 7,374 appeals, a 12 percent increase from FY 2021, when it processed 6,579 appeals.
Backlogged requests were 52,266 at end of FY 2022, compared to 25,102 backlogged requests at the end of FY 2021, a percent increase.
Backlogged appeals were 413 at end of FY 2022, compared to 436 backlogged appeals at the end of FY 2021, a 5.2 percent decrease.
For processed perfected requests, the overall department response time was an average of 11 days for “simple” requests and 83 days for “complex” requests.
Processing costs were $ 75.2 million and litigation costs were $2.5 million, whereas in FY 2021 the department incurred $70.8 million in processing costs and $2 million in litigation costs.
Fees collected for processing requests totalled $14,913.
The U.S. Department of State received 13,864 FOIA requests and processed only 9,167 requests in fiscal year 2022, increasing its request backlog by 25 percent from 14,941 in FY 2021 to 18,765, according to its annual FOIA report posted on March 1, 2023. The Department’s processing and litigation costs totaled $39.4 million, while it once again burdened taxpayers by collecting zero dollars in processing fees. The overall response times for processed perfected requests were reported to be 40 days for “simple” requests and 115 days for “complex” requests. The oldest ten pending perfected requests ranged from 3,843 to 3,954 days old and were received more than 15 years ago.
On March 1, 2023, DOJ’s Office of Information Policy posted a list of links to agency annual reposts for fiscal year 2022. A significant number of agencies appear to have missed the filing deadline. In other cases, OIP simply neglected to find and link the reports, e.g., Department of the Interior, Department of Education, Department of State, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Shortly after the 5pm deadline on March 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice, whose Office of Information Policy, is responsible for encouraging all agencies to comply with FOIA, released its annual FOIA report for fiscal year 2022. Here are the highlights:
Received 93,370 requests, a 4.2 percent decrease from FY 2021, when it received 97,490 requests.
Processed 82,868 requests, a 9.7 percent increase from FY 2021, when it processed 75,511 requests.
The Executive Office of Immigration Review received the largest number of requests (56,544), and processed the largest number of requests (46,172). The FBI processed more requests (18,350) than it received (18,056).
Received 2,048 appeals, a 21.6 percent decrease from FY 2021, when it received 2,614 appeals
Processed 2,126 appeals, a 23.2 percent decrease from FY 2021, when it processed 2,771 appeals.
Backlogged requests stood at 64,982 at end of FY 2022, compared to 48,959 backlogged requests at the end of FY 2021, a 32.7 percent increase.
Backlogged appeals stood at 321 at end of FY 2022, compared to 378 backlogged appeals at the end of FY 2021, a 15 percent decrease.
For processed perfected requests, the overall department response time was an average of 134 days for “simple” requests and 271.8 days for “complex” requests.
Processing costs were $ 82.9 million and litigation costs were $16.7 million, which is about the same as FY 2021, when department incurred $80.6 million in processing costs and $17.1 million in litigation costs.
Fees collected for processing requests amounted to $33,992, up from $24,032 in FY 2021.
The National Archives and Records Administration, whose research facilities were crippled by COVID and whose Office of Government Information Services acts as an ombudsman for FOIA requesters and agencies, has released its annual FOIA report for fiscal year 2022. Here are the highlights:
Received 14,975 requests, a 93.8 percent increase from FY 2021, when it received 7,725 requests.
Processed 14,977 requests, a 118 percent increase from FY 2021, when it processed 6,867 requests.
Received 81 appeals, a 50 percent increase from FY 2021, when it received 54 appeals
Processed 22 appeals, a 51 percent decrease from FY 2021, when it processed 45 appeals.
Backlogged requests were 9971 at end of FY 2022, which is significantly higher than the 4,369 backlogged requests that it identified in its FY 2021 report. In its FY 2022 report, NARA has adjusted its FY 2021 request backlog to 9,969 without explanation.
Backlogged appeals were 155 at end of FY 2022, compared to 99 backlogged appeals at the end of FY 2021, a 56.5 percent increase.
For processed perfected requests, the overall department response time was an average of 141 days for “simple” requests and 1048 days for “complex” requests.
Processing costs were $1.5 million and litigation costs were $0, whereas in FY 2021 the agency incurred $1.2 million in processing costs and $0 in litigation costs.
Fees collected for processing requests totalled $0, matching $0 from FY 2021.
The U.S. Department of Defense, whose FOIA operations are among the busiest in the government, has released its annual FOIA report for fiscal year 2022. Here are the highlights:
Received 54,004 requests, a 2.2 percent increase from FY 2021, when it received 52,805 requests.
Processed 52,222 requests, a 3 percent increase from FY 2021, when it processed 50,703 requests.
Received 1,252 appeals, a 15.8 percent increase from FY 2021, when it received 1,081 appeals
Processed 1,257 appeals, a 14.7 percent increase from FY 2021, when it processed 1,095 appeals.
Backlogged requests were 18,567 at end of FY 2022, compared to 17,597 backlogged requests at the end of FY 2021, a 5.5 percent increase.
Backlogged appeals stood at 862 at the end of FY 2022, compared to 891 backlogged appeals at the end of FY 2021, a 3.2 percent decrease.
For processed perfected requests, the overall department response time was an average of 39.6 days for “simple” requests and 271.3 days for “complex” requests.
Processing costs were $94 million and litigation costs were $4.58 million, whereas in FY 2021 the department incurred $102.5 million in processing costs and $2.7 million in litigation costs.
Fees collected for processing requests amounted to $108,275, representing only one-twelfth of one percent of total costs.
And last but not least, DOD noted on its report’s cover page how much it cost the Department to prepare the report: $81,000 versus $158,000 in FY 2021.
The Department of Justice received 93,370 FOIA requests in FY 2022, a 4.2 percent decrease from FY 2021, and it processed 82,868 requests, a 9.7 percent increase from FY 2021, according to a partial annual reported available online yesterday. The Executive Office of Immigration Review received the largest number of requests (56,544), and processed the largest number of requests (46,172). The FBI processed more requests (18,350) than it received (18,056).
We will post the full report as soon as DOJ makes it available.