Appeals under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act: Timing, Legal Assistance, and Requester Identities of Administrative Appeal Cases at Two Agencies

• Other Authors: Baker, Gavin (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Information science; Public policy; Law
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-9285

This study examined administrative appeals under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) at two federal government agencies: the Department of the Army and the U.S. Forest Service. The study reviewed all provided case files for appeals received by the agencies in fiscal year 2012, which consisted of 105 appeals at the Army and 53 appeals at the Forest Service. The researcher coded each appeal with respect to the processing time of the initial request, whether a lawyer was involved in preparing the request or appeal, and the professional or situational identity of the requester (journalist, business, agency personnel, etc.). From initial request through initial decision, the median wait time was 31 calendar days at the Forest Service and 40 days at the Army. At both agencies, a person with legal expertise assisted with nearly one-third of appealed FOIA requests. Requests from agency personnel and their families constituted the largest group of the appeals filed at the Army, while at the Forest Service the largest group of appeals came from the "other" category of requesters, including members of the general public and unidentified requesters. === A Thesis submitted to the School of Information in partial fulfillment of the Master of Science. === Spring Semester, 2015. === April 6, 2015. === appellants, FOIA, freedom of information, public records, requesters === Includes bibliographical references. === Charles C. Hinnant, Professor Directing Thesis; Lorri Mon, Committee Member; Gary Burnett, Committee Member.