We still have a lot to say about drafting your FOIA request, but today we wanted to look at something a little different and talk about something that many requesters have not had any experience with — negotiating with the agency.
Over the last five years, with the issuance of Executive Order 13392 by President Bush, the enactment of the Open Government Act of 2007, and the issuance of FOIA memoranda by President Obama and Attorney General Holder, a government-wide customer service framework has been set up.
This framework includes a Chief FOIA Officer at every agency that is subject to FOIA. The Chief FOIA Officer is supposed to be “a senior official of such agency (at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level).” It is the Chief FOIA Officer’s job, among other things, to file a report on the status of the agency’s FOIA efforts with the Attorney General. A list of the current Chief FOIA Officers is available on the Department of Justice Web site. There is no guarantee, however, that the Chief FOIA Officer will know anything about FOIA or care about FOIA. Still, the fact that they have to put their name on various reports may be an incentive for Chief FOIA officers to try to make a difference. (more…)
