Month: September 2024

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

As announced on FOIA Post last week, all 100 agencies subject to the FOIA have finalized their Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Annual FOIA Reports, and OIP is pleased to published today its annual government-wide summary of the data found in these reports. 

In order to provide agency personnel and the public with a comprehensive picture of the government’s FOIA activities during the fiscal year, OIP issues a summary of the information contained within agency Annual FOIA Reports every year. As in previous years, the Summary of Annual FOIA Reports for FY 2015 looks at government-wide data for many key statistics in FOIA administration and highlights significant numbers reported by individual agencies.  Additionally, the summary identifies trends in FOIA processing by comparing the FY 2015 Annual FOIA Report data with data from prior fiscal years.

As described in this year’s summary, during FY 2015, the government overall continued to face high numbers of incoming FOIA Requests, receiving over 700,000 requests. Agencies responded by processing a record high number of nearly 770,000 requests. This strong effort led to a significant 35.6% reduction in the government’s overall request backlog. The vast majority of agencies (seventy-one) reported low backlogs of fewer than 100 requests. Notably, fifty-seven agencies reported a request backlog of below twenty requests, and twenty-nine reported that they did not have any backlog of requests. The government overall achieved this while still maintaining a release rate of over 91%. As in prior years, the most cited FOIA exemptions continued to be Exemption 6 and 7(C), which both protect personal privacy. The top five agencies that received and processed the most requests as part of these efforts were the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Defense, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs.      

OIP’s summary this year concludes by observing that while much has been achieved this past year there is still work to be done for further improvements in FY 2016. Agencies must continue to focus on improving timeliness in their responses, particularly for “simple track” requests and to reduce the age of their oldest requests.       

OIP’s Summary of Annual FOIA Reports for FY 2015 is available on our Reports page where it can be compared with previous summaries dating back to FY 2006. The data collected in agency Annual FOIA Reports can also easily be viewed, compared, and analyzed on FOIA.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

Serving as keynote speaker at this year’s event was the Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart Delery, who also serves as the Department’s Chief FOIA Officer. In his remarks, the Acting Associate Attorney General spoke about the history of the FOIA and how the law “made three important changes to the disclosure standards that previously had been included in the Administrative Procedure Act” including:

• Making records available to “any person” rather than available to “persons properly and directly concerned,”
• Setting out discrete categories of exempt information replacing vague standards that included “good cause found,” and
• Providing for judicial review of government decisions to withhold requested information.

The Acting Associate Attorney General noted that upon its passage “the FOIA both empowered individuals to access governmental records and provided more specific direction and guidance to agencies.”

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the FOIA’s passage, the Department of Justice debuted a special video tribute to this important law. The video details the history of the law, how FOIA administration and processing has changed over the last 50 years, and how the FOIA has served as the foundation for the open government our founding fathers envisioned. The video is available both on the Justice Department’s video page and on its YouTube channel.

In addition to commemorating the FOIA’s 50th anniversary, OIP Director Melanie Ann Pustay recognized this year’s Sunshine Week FOIA Award recipients. During the award presentation ceremony Director Pustay highlighted key achievements in FOIA administration for each recipient. The following awards were presented by Acting Associate Attorney General Delery and Director Pustay:

Exceptional Service by a FOIA Professional or Team of FOIA Professionals 

This award recognized exemplary performance by an agency FOIA professional or team of FOIA professionals in carrying out the agency’s administration of the FOIA and advancing the principles set out in the Department of Justice’s FOIA Guidelines. Three Exceptional Service awards were presented to:

• Kara Christenson – Federal Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice;
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement FOIA Team – Department of Homeland Security; and
• U.S. Army Special Operations Command FOIA Team – Department of Defense

Presentation of Sunshine Week FOIA Award to Kara Christenson

Lifetime Service Award

This award recognized those individuals with at least twenty years of service who have demonstrated high standards of excellence and dedication. Three Lifetime Service awards were presented to:

• Stasia A. Hutchison – Research, Education, and Economics, Department of Agriculture;
• David Goldsmith – U.S. Army Reserve Command, Department of Defense; and
• James Kovakas – Civil Division, Department of Justice

OIP would like to again recognize and thank each of the award recipients for their outstanding work and many contributions in the administration of the FOIA.

In closing his remarks, Acting Associate Attorney General Delery praised the dedication of agency FOIA professionals and thanked them for their work over the years. He also stressed that there was still more work to be done. As he stated:

As we continue to celebrate Sunshine Week this week and the FOIA’s 50th anniversary this year, be sure to continue reading FOIA Post for announcements and news from OIP.

Read the full remarks from Acting Associate Attorney General and Department of Justice Chief FOIA Officer Stuart Delery. 

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

OIP is pleased to announce that all 100 agencies subject to the FOIA have finalized their Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Annual FOIA Reports and that the Department has uploaded all of the data from these reports onto FOIA.gov. 

Each year, federal departments and agencies are required by law to submit a report to the Attorney General detailing various statistics regarding their agency’s FOIA activities, such as the numbers of requests processed and received, and the time taken to process them. The data from all of these Annual FOIA Reports is then uploaded onto FOIA.gov, the Justice Department’s government-wide FOIA resource, so that the public can easily view it and compare FOIA data by agency and over time.

OIP is currently in the process of compiling its Summary of Agency Annual FOIA Reports for FY 2015. However, from the data uploaded onto FOIA.gov we can already see that the government overall has achieved significant accomplishments this past year. For example:

• The government overall reported processing a record high 769,903 FOIA requests, which is an increase of 19% from FY 2014, and the first time agencies have reported processing numbers over 700,000 requests.
   
• As a result of these record high processing numbers, the government also reduced its backlog of pending FOIA requests by just over 35%.  
   
• Seventy-one agencies reported having a backlog of fewer than 100 requests, and 29 report have no backlog at all.
   
• This also marks the seventh year in a row where agencies released information in full or in part for more than 91% of the requests processed for a disclosure determination.   

We encourage everyone to visit FOIA.gov to view each agency’s data as well as government-wide FOIA statistics.

The Department looks forward to seeing all of the registered attendees at our Sunshine Week Kickoff Celebration on Monday, March 14^th and at our FOIA IT Working Group meeting on Thursday, March 17^th. Please continue reading FOIA Post for additional Sunshine Week 2016 announcements as well as for the release of the Department’s Summary of Agency Annual FOIA Reports in the coming weeks.

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

Both the President and Department of Justice have stressed the importance of using modern technology in administering the FOIA in order to provide timely disclosure of information to the public. In the years since the issuance of the President’s FOIA Memorandum and the Department of Justice’s 2009 FOIA Guidelines, agencies have taken concrete steps to use technology tools to improve multiple aspects of their FOIA process.  Next month, agencies will have the chance to share details of their efforts to leverage new technology solutions in a meeting of the FOIA IT Working Group.

Since its inception, the FOIA IT Working Group has acted as a forum for agency FOIA and technology professionals to discuss areas that have, or could benefit from, the application of technology tools. In celebration of Sunshine Week 2016, OIP will be showcasing the efforts of agencies that have used technology solutions to improve their administration of the FOIA. The meeting will also feature a discussion of areas or topics that the Working Group should address in the future.

The details for the meeting, which is open to all agency FOIA professionals and interested agency technology specialists, are:

If you are interested in attending this event, you can register by e-mailing your name and phone number to OIP’s Training Officer at DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov, with the subject “FOIA IT Working Group Sunshine Week Meeting.”  If you have any questions regarding this meeting, please contact OIP at (202) 514-FOIA (3642).

As Sunshine Week 2016 approaches, be sure to continue reading FOIA Post for announcements and information about all of the Justice Department’s planned activities for the week.  And don’t forget to join us for the Department of Justice’s Sunshine Week kickoff celebration on Monday, March 14th.

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

On Monday, March 14^th the Department of Justice will once again invite the public and agency professionals to the Robert F. Kennedy Building to celebrate the start of Sunshine Week 2016. During this year’s event, the Department will present selected FOIA professionals with the 2016 Sunshine Week FOIA Awards as well as commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the passage of the FOIA.

Introduced last year, the Department’s Sunshine Week FOIA Awards recognize the vital role that agency professionals across the government play in improving the administration of the FOIA at their agencies. In January OIP announced the categories and nomination guidelines for this year’s awards, which seek to recognize excellence by an individual or team of FOIA professionals as well as lifetime service awards to those individuals with 20 or more years of FOIA experience.

This year’s event will also celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the FOIA. Signed into law in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the FOIA set a new standard for transparency in government and, in the words of President Obama has remained “the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open Government.”

We hope that you can join us for this event, which will feature a keynote address from the Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart Delery, who also serves as the Department of Justice Chief FOIA Officer.  The details for this event, which is open to all agency personnel and members of the public, are:

If you are interested in attending this event, you can register by e-mailing your name and phone number to OIP’s Training Coordinator at DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov with the subject line “Sunshine Week 2016 Celebration.” If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact our office at (202) 514-3642.

As Sunshine Week 2016 approaches, be sure to continue reading FOIA Post for announcements and information about all of OIP’s planned activities for the week.