Freedom of Information Act Request Letter

The Freedom of Information Act is a federal law that allows citizens to request documents and records from the government. Each state has its own version of a similar act, which allows citizens of that state to request the same types of documents and records from the state government.

This document allows anyone to create a request under their relevant Freedom of Information Act.

Usually, these requests are not complicated. They only need to contain enough information to give the state or federal agency information about what documents or records to search for.

Sometimes, these requests are denied, and if they are, the agency should give an explanation for the denial. In other cases, the citizen may be charged a fee for copies, and then easily obtain the documents.

How to use this document

This document contains everything the sender needs to make a request for information to a state or federal agency. It includes, most importantly, identifying information about the sender and gives as much as is needed for the sender to describe what records they are looking for.

There is also space for additional information to be included, such as attached documents, a date range, or anything else that may be relevant to the records search.

After this document is filled out, it should be printed and signed and then sent to the custodian of the documents or records.

Applicable law

The specific state and federal laws that are relevant to this document are included within the document. Each state has a different freedom of information law, and so does the federal government.

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.