Topic summary
FOIA request
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Freedom of Information Act (United States).
Processing time
The act contains a provision legally requiring agencies to respond to FOIA requests within 20 days, but for two main reasons, many agencies rarely meet this requirement. First, the task of screening requests for sensitive or classified information is often arduous and lengthy at agencies like the FBI and the CIA. Second, congressional funding for agency staff to handle FOIA requests is usually far less than the necessary amount to hire sufficient employees. As a result, parties who request information under FOIA often end up filing lawsuits in federal court seeking judicial orders forcing the agencies to comply with their FOIA requests.