Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): How to use it for your personal benefit

Last Summer and Fall, Sunshine Review had a “Back-to-School” project where we sent FOIA’s to certain school districts in Florida. We requested contracts between the school system and all lobbyists, among other lobbying information.

We encouraged you to get involved. We provided much briefer FOIA instructions and urged you to write or call your superintendent and request the teacher master schedule and the school’s checkbook register. This would give you context for your school’s workings, involve you in your local government, and test the responsiveness of your school district. Basically, the focus was on using FOIA to increase transparency and civic engagement.

The Chicago Tribune offers tips for submitting a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. But unlike the sort of FOIA issues we focus on, this story is about the personal benefits open records laws give to individuals.

The Trib outlines a story where a self-described “geeked-out” records guy submitted information requests to local governments in order to get information to help him find his dream community. He asked:
*school districts for graduation rates, test scores and data on class sizes.
*police departments for crime statistics
*local governments for property tax rates.

When he was done with his public records search, Davis walked through the winning neighborhoods looking for “for sale” signs. He quickly found the house of his dreams. More than a decade later, he still lives there.

Other instances where knowledge of FOIAs can be helpful include a house search, doing battle with a health insurance company, or fighting a parking ticket.

Before you can start requesting, you’ll need to know how. The Trib recommends the following steps for beginning an information request:

1) Call the agency or government and just ask for the records.

If that fails, then move forward on filing a formal request.

2) Identify the agency you want information from and go to its Web site and look for a FOIA link.
3) If you can’t find a link, call the agency and ask where, and to whom, your request should be sent.

Once you have that information and start writing your request, be specific about the type of records you want is important, and write concisely. The author recommends keeping the request to one page: “The more words you put in an FOIA request, the more opportunities a lawyer for the agency has to deny you.” If legal jargon is uncomfortable for you, opt instead for a more casual tone.

If an agency denies your request? Appeal.

The article links to two FOIA letter generators provided by the The Student Press Law Center and The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Other useful pages for when you write a FOIA request:
*State sunshine laws: This map will help you find your state’s open records laws
*State Open Meetings Laws:Information on different states’ open meeting laws, a corollary to open records laws.

We always hear that information is power. Even before you have that information, understanding how to get it can give you a new perspective on how to approach questions with confidence and the right tools. Let us know how you have used FOIA to better your life or the state of your community.