I was recently asked if I had ever filed a Freedom of Information appeal. Sure, I said. Many times.
What I meant was that I had filed a Freedom of Information records request and had been denied, and then I objected to that denial. The public information officer might say something like 鈥渢he records you have requested are exempt from public disclosure based on this statute.鈥� And then I would respond and say something like 鈥淚 disagree with your interpretation of how that exemption is applied. So do the courts; see this case for further information about why I鈥檓 right and you must give me access to those public records.鈥� I鈥檓 more polite in my actual appeals, of course, but what鈥檚 important is that I鈥檝e filed appeals with agencies directly. Sometimes it works, but often it doesn鈥檛, and then the only recourse is to sue, which can be costly and time-consuming.
But that鈥檚 not how it works in 海角换妻. Here, you can with the Freedom of Information Commission, an independent body tasked with arbitrating disputes on whether records should be released. How delightful, I thought. A whole entity that has to take my angry emails seriously and could find in my favor before I ever have to set foot in a court.
The FOI Commission is not without its flaws. We鈥檝e reported on how staff and funding shortages mean that the commission takes around eight months to decide on cases. Since we published that story, the commission has added a new attorney and appeals are moving faster.
There are some notable differences between public records access in 海角换妻 and Virginia, where I鈥檓 from. In Virginia, for instance, the requesters of public records have to be citizens of Virginia or journalists at an outlet that circulates in Virginia. But in 海角换妻, FOIA applies to every person.
The fee structure is also different here; while 海角换妻 public agencies can charge $0.25 or $0.50 per page鈥攅ven pages sent electronically鈥攖he commission held that additional fees are not permitted. Virginia only stipulates that a public body may impose 鈥渁 reasonable charge鈥� on requesters that can鈥檛 be more than what it costs to produce the records. Those fees can add up quickly. When I worked as a student journalist at the University of Mary Washington, I FOIA requests could cost between $700 and $7,000 to fulfill. The Reporter鈥檚 Committee for the Freedom of the Press that on occasion, agencies imposed prohibitive fees to discourage requesters.
The fact that there is an overseeing body like the FOI Commission is itself a marked difference. So while I see room for improvement, I鈥檓 optimistic that 海角换妻 will remain committed to and grow its access to public records.
That matters because finding public records is a huge part of the work we do. It鈥檚 key to understanding how public agencies operate and what they value. At the time of writing, the TAP team has two appeals in with the FOI Commission鈥攎ore on that to come but I鈥檓 hopeful that all of these efforts will result in a more accountable and democratic state.
