RSSTick tick tick: Running the clock down on fees
Apr 18
Uncategorized Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, FOIA, Jason Smathers, Requestor's Voice 1 Comment
The 2007 amendment to the Freedom of Information Act added a clause that theoretically could eliminate a great deal of fees for FOIA requests. The amendment adds a clause prohibiting fees where the agency fails to meet a time limit. If an agency fails to provide records in 20 or 30 days or if an appeal is not processed in 20 days, than the agency gives up the right to charge certain fees. If the requester is news media or educational, all fees must be waived. Requesters in the “other” and commercial category only have search fees waived in the case of a missed deadline.
(viii) An agency shall not assess search fees (or in the case of a requester described under clause (ii)(II), duplication fees) under this subparagraph if the agency fails to comply with any time limit under paragraph (6),
The law however gives some broad exceptions. If either “unusual” or “exceptional” circumstances apply to the processing of the request, the prohibition against charging certain fees does not apply. There is not a lot of case law on this. In practice agencies are quick to claim “unusual” or “exceptional” circumstances.
By using MuckRock, dates are easily tracked, which allows for proper appeal when a time limit passes unmet. For one particular request to the Bureau of Prisons, the fees were appealed due to failing to meet a time limit. The Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy, responded by waiving the $190 duplication fee and remanding the request back to the Bureau of Prisons.
Jason Smathers is a MuckRock user and an investigative journalist. You can follow his other writing on his blog. Requestor’s Voice is an occasional series, exploring the freedom of information request process at the local, state and federal level from a requestor’s point of view. Interested in contributing? E-mail Michael@MuckRock.com.
