FOIL: Getting the Records – NYCOG Open Government Courses

About Course

New York’s Freedom of Information Law, in plain English. For the clerk who has to answer the request and the resident who filed it. Every government record in New York is presumed to be yours to see. This course explains what that presumption covers, how to ask for a record so the request actually works, what the clock looks like on the government’s side, which records can be withheld and why, what you can be charged, and what to do when the answer is no or there is no answer at all.

Write a request that reasonably describes the records and cannot be bounced on a technicality
Count the deadlines: 5 business days, 20 business days, a date certain, 30 calendar days, 10 business days
Tell a lawful denial from an unlawful one, and redact instead of withholding
Know what may be charged and what may never be charged
Appeal, ask the Committee on Open Government for an opinion, and know when a lawsuit is the only step left
Set up a FOIL process a one-person office can run

Course Content

Lesson 4: Making a request that works
How to write a FOIL request that reasonably describes the records, what an agency may and may not require of you, and what to ask for in the request itself.

Making a request that works
Lesson 4 quiz

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About Course

What Will You Learn?

Course Content

Lesson 4: Making a request that works How to write a FOIL request that reasonably describes the records, what an agency may and may not require of you, and what to ask for in the request itself.

Making a request that works

Lesson 4 quiz

Student Ratings & Reviews

Lesson 4: Making a request that works
How to write a FOIL request that reasonably describes the records, what an agency may and may not require of you, and what to ask for in the request itself.