Freedom of Information Resources

FOIA

The FOIA is the federal law providing people with the right of access to federal agency records. Under FOIA, federal agency records must be made available to the public unless they are specifically exempt from public release. It applies to records created and maintained by agencies in the executive branch of the federal government. The FOIA does not apply to Congress, the judicial branch of the federal government, or to state or local governments. Many state governments have enacted open records laws.

FOIA.gov

Created by the Office of Information Policy of the Department of Justice, this site is a comprehensive public resource for government-wide FOIA information and data. FOIA.Gov displays graphically a wealth of data on agency FOIA compliance, contains educational material about how the FOIA works, and contact information for all government agencies.

Department of Justice

    o   Freedom of Information Act Guide
                http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foi-act.htm

    o   FOIA Reference Materials
                http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/04_7.html

    o   Freedom of Information Act Resources
                http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/

A Citizens Guide on Using the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act of 1974 to Request Government Records
(House Report 109-226)
http://www.fas.org/sgp/foia/citizen.html

How to Use the Federal FOI Act
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
http://rcfp.org/foiact/

40 Years of FOIA, 20 Years of Delay: Oldest Pending FOIA Requests Date Back to the 1980’s
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB224/index.htm

Your Right to Federal Records: Questions and Answers on the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/fed_prog/foia/foia.pdf  

Update to FOIA under Obama
http://www.justice.gov/ag/foia-memo-march2009.pdf

The three exclusions, which are rarely used, pertain to especially sensitive law enforcement and national security matters.
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/fed_prog/foia/foia.htm

Federal Open Government Guide
http://www.rcfp.org/fogg/index.php

FOIA Letter Generator
http://www.rcfp.org/foialetter/index.php

All federal agencies FOIA websites
http://www.justice.gov/oip/other_age.htm

State FOI Laws
http://www.nfoic.org/state-foi-laws

governmentattic.org provides electronic copies of hundreds of interesting Federal Government documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.  Fascinating historical documents, reports on items in the news, oddities and fun stuff and government bloopers, they're all here. 

Freedom of Information Advocacy Groups

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
http://www.rcfp.org/

National Freedom of Information Coalition
http://www.nfoic.org/index.cfm

Society of Professional Journalists' Access Across America
http://blogs.spjnetwork.org/aaa/

The Art of Access Blog
http://theartofaccess.com/

Texas Public Information Act

The Texas Public Information Act is the state of Texas' open records law.

Basics from TX State Library
http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/agency/customer/pia.html

Texas Open Records Act at a Glance
http://www.tml.org/legal_pdf/2006TXPubInfoAct.pdf

Campus Sunshine Laws

The Clery Act requires colleges and universities receiving federal funding to open their crime information to the public. Data covered under the Act include murder, sex offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, manslaughter, arson and certain liquor, drug and weapons violations.

The Student Press Law Center's Covering Campus Crime
https://www.splc.org/pdf/ccc4.pdf
A comprehensive free e-book detailing how to use the Clery Act to access campus crime records.

Access to Executive Personnel Searches is provided through states' open records laws. This guide will help you understand how to use the law to gain access to this information.

Institutional Information - All colleges that participate in federal student loan programs must make Accreditation Reports available to the public. This guide will help you understand how to access and use accreditation reports. Here is UNT's most recent accreditation report. For more institutional information on UNT, go to the Institutional Research and Effectiveness site.

Texas Open Meetings Act applies to university meetings.

FOIA Books

Freedom of Information Act
Christopher L. Henry
Novinka Books, 2003 (KF 5753 .F74 2003)

Your Right to Know: How to use the Freedom of Information Act and other access laws
Heather Brooke
Pluto Press, 2005 (KD 3756 .B76 2005)

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