Public-records requests & tracking

Legal-review workflow

When responsive documents arrive, mark them for legal review

Agencies vary wildly in how they deliver FOIA responses — PDFs, scanned image bundles, password-protected ZIPs, Bates-stamped pages, or rolling productions. Before publishing anything you receive, run through this checklist with a legal expert (your outlet's lawyer, a media-law fellow, or your IRB).

1. Verify the redactions.Each redaction should cite a specific exemption (FOIA b(1)-(9) for federal; state- specific for state requests). If an exemption isn't cited, the redaction is challengeable on appeal.
2. Check Bates numbering / page-count integrity. Missing page numbers in a series almost always indicate withheld pages. Make sure the agency's cover letter accounts for any withheld counts.
3. Identify any privileged content. Attorney- client privileged or deliberative-process privileged content sometimes gets released anyway. Check with a lawyer before publishing; some jurisdictions allow agencies to claw it back.
4. Cross-reference with the original request. Compare what you asked for to what was provided. Material mismatches are appealable.
5. Scan for PII you didn't ask for. Sometimes agencies release more than they should — SSNs, home addresses, third-party names. Even if the agency released it, publishing it can create liability and harm. Redact before posting.
6. Save the cover letter + transmittal email. These are part of the records request's legal trail and may matter for future appeals.

Note on this workflowTruthMark doesn't store or intermediate FOIA documents. The checklist above is a methodology aid; the actual document review happens in your own systems with your own legal team. If you need document-hosting and collaboration tools, see DocumentCloud (linked below). If you need a media-law lawyer, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press hotline is the standard entry-point.

Federal FOIA

Federal Freedom of Information Act

State public records (51 jurisdictions)

State public-records statutes & portals

Every state has its own statute. Some states have dedicated oversight bodies (CT FOI Commission, IL Public Access Counselor, IN Public Access Counselor, PA Office of Open Records, VA FOIA Council); most route through the AG's office.

• Alabama

  Open ↗

  Open Records Act (Ala. Code § 36-12-40)

  AL AG — Open Government

• Alaska

  Open ↗

  Public Records Act (AS § 40.25.110)

  AK DOL — Public Records

• Arizona

  Open ↗

  Public Records Law (A.R.S. § 39-121)

  AZ AG — Open Government

• Arkansas

  Open ↗

  Freedom of Information Act (Ark. Code § 25-19-101)

  AR AG — FOIA

• California

  Open ↗

  California Public Records Act (Gov. Code § 7920+)

  CA AG — Open Government

  CA also has the Brown Act (open meetings) and the Bagley-Keene Act for state bodies.

• Colorado

  Open ↗

  Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) (C.R.S. § 24-72-201)

  CO AG — Open Government

• Connecticut

  Open ↗

  Freedom of Information Act (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-200)

  CT Freedom of Information Commission

  CT has an independent Freedom of Information Commission with binding adjudication.

• Delaware

  Open ↗

  Freedom of Information Act (29 Del. C. § 10001)

  DE DOJ — FOIA

• District of Columbia

  Open ↗

  DC FOIA (D.C. Code § 2-531)

  DC Office of the Secretary — FOIA

• Florida

  Open ↗

  Public Records Law (Fla. Stat. ch. 119) — 'Sunshine Law'

  FL AG — Sunshine Law

  Florida's Sunshine Law is among the broadest in the U.S.; verbal requests are valid.

• Georgia

  Open ↗

  Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70)

  GA AG — Open Government

• Hawaii

  Open ↗

  Uniform Information Practices Act (HRS § 92F)

  HI Office of Information Practices

• Idaho

  Open ↗

  Public Records Act (Idaho Code § 74-101)

  ID AG — Sunshine Laws

• Illinois

  Open ↗

  Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140)

  IL AG — Public Access Counselor

  IL has a Public Access Counselor (PAC) in the AG's office for FOIA disputes.

• Indiana

  Open ↗

  Access to Public Records Act (Ind. Code § 5-14-3)

  IN Public Access Counselor

• Iowa

  Open ↗

  Open Records (Iowa Code ch. 22)

  IA Public Information Board

• Kansas

  Open ↗

  Open Records Act (K.S.A. § 45-215)

  KS AG — Open Government

  ag.ks.gov is Akamai-fronted; bot-block to non-browser clients.

• Kentucky

  Open ↗

  Open Records Act (KRS § 61.870)

  KY AG — Open Records

• Louisiana

  Open ↗

  Public Records Act (La. R.S. § 44:1)

  LA AG — Public Records

• Maine

  Open ↗

  Freedom of Access Act (1 M.R.S. § 401)

  ME — Freedom of Access

• Maryland

  Open ↗

  Public Information Act (GP § 4-101)

  MD AG — Open Government

• Massachusetts

  Open ↗

  Public Records Law (M.G.L. ch. 66)

  MA Secretary of the Commonwealth — Public Records

  mass.gov / sec.state.ma.us bot-block non-browser clients.

• Michigan

  Open ↗

  Freedom of Information Act (MCL § 15.231)

  MI — FOIA

• Minnesota

  Open ↗

  Government Data Practices Act (Minn. Stat. ch. 13)

  MN Department of Administration — Data Practices

• Mississippi

  Open ↗

  Public Records Act (Miss. Code § 25-61-1)

  MS SOS — Public Records

• Missouri

  Open ↗

  Sunshine Law (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 610.010)

  MO AG — Sunshine Law

• Montana

  Open ↗

  Right to Know (Mont. Const. art. II § 9; § 2-6-1001)

  MT SOS — Records

• Nebraska

  Open ↗

  Public Records Statutes (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-712)

  NE AG — Public Records

• Nevada

  Open ↗

  Public Records Act (NRS § 239)

  NV AG — Open Government

• New Hampshire

  Open ↗

  Right-to-Know Law (RSA ch. 91-A)

  NH DOJ — Right-to-Know

  NH DOJ bot-blocks non-browser clients.

• New Jersey

  Open ↗

  Open Public Records Act (OPRA) (N.J.S.A. § 47:1A-1)

  NJ Government Records Council

• New Mexico

  Open ↗

  Inspection of Public Records Act (NMSA § 14-2-1)

  NM AG — IPRA

• New York

  Open ↗

  Freedom of Information Law (Public Officers Law § 84)

  NY Committee on Open Government — FOIL

• North Carolina

  Open ↗

  Public Records Law (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1)

  NC AG — Open Government

• North Dakota

  Open ↗

  Open Records Law (N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18)

  ND AG — Open Records & Meetings

• Ohio

  Open ↗

  Public Records Act (R.C. § 149.43)

  OH AG — Sunshine Laws

• Oklahoma

  Open ↗

  Open Records Act (51 O.S. § 24A.1)

  OK AG — Public Integrity

• Oregon

  Open ↗

  Public Records Law (ORS § 192.311)

  OR DOJ — Public Records

• Pennsylvania

  Open ↗

  Right-to-Know Law (65 P.S. § 67.101)

  PA Office of Open Records

  PA has a dedicated Office of Open Records with appeal authority.

• Rhode Island

  Open ↗

  Access to Public Records Act (R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-1)

  RI AG — APRA

• South Carolina

  Open ↗

  Freedom of Information Act (S.C. Code § 30-4-10)

  SC AG — FOIA

• South Dakota

  Open ↗

  Open Records (SDCL § 1-27-1)

  SD AG — Civil / Open Records

• Tennessee

  Open ↗

  Public Records Act (T.C.A. § 10-7-503)

  TN Office of Open Records Counsel

• Texas

  Open ↗

  Public Information Act (Tex. Gov't Code ch. 552)

  TX AG — Open Government

• Utah

  Open ↗

  Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) (UCA § 63G-2)

  UT State Archives — GRAMA

• Vermont

  Open ↗

  Public Records Act (1 V.S.A. § 315)

  VT SOS — Public Records

• Virginia

  Open ↗

  Freedom of Information Act (Va. Code § 2.2-3700)

  VA FOIA Council

• Washington

  Open ↗

  Public Records Act (RCW ch. 42.56)

  WA SOS — Open Government

• West Virginia

  Open ↗

  Freedom of Information Act (W.V. Code § 29B-1-1)

  WV AG — Public Access

• Wisconsin

  Open ↗

  Public Records Law (Wis. Stat. § 19.31)

  WI DOJ — Office of Open Government

• Wyoming

  Open ↗

  Public Records Act (Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-201)

  WY AG (statute-only; no dedicated portal)

Third-party tools

Beyond the agency portals

• MuckRock

  Open ↗

  FOIA submission, tracking, and document-hosting platform. Free for journalists and members of the public; paid tiers for newsrooms. Coordinates collaborative requests across jurisdictions.

• DocumentCloud

  Open ↗

  Document-hosting and analysis platform built for news organizations. Free for verified journalists. OCR, annotation, and embed-friendly viewers for published documents.

• NFOIC — National FOI Coalition

  Open ↗

  Network of state FOI coalitions providing per-state expertise. Useful when you hit jurisdiction-specific procedural problems and need to find a local advocate.

• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

  Open ↗

  Media-law support for journalists. Operates a legal-defense hotline (1-800-336-4243) for FOIA disputes, source protection, and publication review.

• FOIA Wiki

  Open ↗

  Community-maintained reference for federal FOIA — agency contacts, exemption analysis, case law, fee waiver examples. Lives outside of any single newsroom.