New York FOIA procedures
From Sunshine Review
Below are the New York FOIA procedures.Contents |
[edit] Agencies Affected by New York FOIA
Any New York State or municipal department, board, bureau, division, commission, committee, public authority, public corporation, council, office or other governmental entity performing a governmental or proprietary function is subject to the Law. Each of those governmental entities is an "agency." The courts are outside its coverage but often must disclose records under other provisions of law. The State Legislature is covered by the Freedom of Information Law, but is treated differently from agencies generally. Private corporations or companies are not subject to the Freedom of Information Law.
[edit] Who can request records?
Anyone can make a request regardless of their purpose or use of records. No allowance is made for the government entity to require why you want the records.
[edit] Who to make the request to?
The person within an agency from whom records may be obtained is generally designated the records access officer, and is responsible for coordinating the agency's response to FOIL requests.
[edit] Contents of Request
The request must be made in writing and "reasonably describe" the record. The request must be for records that currently exist as FOIL does not require the government agency to make a new record.
[edit] Response to a Request
The Freedom of Information Act requires that an agency has five business days to grant or deny access in whole or in part, or if more time is needed, to at least acknowledge the receipt of the request in writing. This acknowledgment must include the date by when the request will be accepted or denied. The date must be reasonable under the circumstances of the request, and in most instances, it cannot exceed twenty additional business days. If more than twenty additional business days is needed, the agency must provide an explanation and a date certain within which it will grant or deny the request in whole or in part. That date, too, must be reasonable in consideration of the facts (i.e., the volume or complexity of the request, the need to search for records, or the obligation to review records to determine rights of access).
[edit] Fees for a FOIL Request
The law states that no more than 25 cents may be charged per page for copies of information. In general, employee's time cannot be charged.
[edit] Exemptions
New York's FOIL is meant to in general favor the people and government openness. Unless specifically listed as an exemption it is assumed to be a public record. There are ten exemptions written into the statue. They can be accessed at the following link which is a great resource for New York and other state requests. If some part of a request is deemed to be exempt from disclosure that information must be redacted. The remaining information is still public.
