Requesting copies of public records

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Sunshine Laws

How to Make Records Requests

Sunshine Litigation

Sorted by State, Year and Topic

Sunshine Nuances

Deliberative Process Exemption

Last updated: July 2021

Each state has laws governing public access to government records. These laws are sometimes called open records laws, public records laws, or FOIA laws, after the federal Freedom of Information Act. Because these laws vary from state to state, individuals wanting to access state records should pay particular attention to the law in their state. In addition to where to find more information about public records request procedures in each state, this page includes general guidelines for requesting public records and frequently asked questions that may come up when requesting public records.

Public records request procedures by state

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia

Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland

Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey

New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina

South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

General guidelines

The following general guidelines may be helpful for individuals interested in requesting copies of public records from state entities.

1. Begin by drafting a public records request letter. You may draft your own professional letter or use a template such as the Student Press Law Center letter generator or one of the National Freedom of Information Coalition sample letters. Specify the time frame of the records you are asking for, as well as the record type.
2. Contact the FOIA liaison or records custodian at the public entity from which you seek records and let them know that you want to submit a public records request.
   1. If you have trouble finding a contact, get in touch with departments that deal with the public and information management, such as recorders, clerks, external affairs, communication departments, and main offices.
   2. Confirm with the liaison how you should submit your request. It is possible that the liaison may tell you that the records you are interested in are available without needing to submit a records request.
   3. Ask the liaison what happens after you submit your request. Keep the liaison's contact information in case you need to follow up with any questions.
3. Review and submit your request.
4. Once you receive a reply to your request, review it and follow up with any questions.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an attorney?

Many citizens file public records requests routinely and successfully without consulting an attorney. There are a number of resources for individuals who wish to submit a records request on their own, such as the Student Press Law Center letter generator or National Freedom of Information Coalition sample letters. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press provides an explanation of each state's open records laws in their Open Government Guide.

An individual might hire an attorney to assist with a public records request for any of the following reasons:

• They believe that the public entity will take their request more seriously if it comes from an attorney.
• They can afford to hire an attorney and doing so will save them time and hassle.
• They believe there is a significant chance that the public entity will deny their request for a reason they regard as frivolous or incorrect, and they are prepared to (and can afford to) contest any denials by pursuing all available legal remedies.

How broad should my request be?

• Consider what period of time the request should cover. For example, a requestor might ask for:
  • All school district budgets for the last twenty years
  • A city council member's outgoing and incoming emails within a two-day period
  • Any emails sent or received by the members of the city council about a certain topic within a certain month

• Consider what subjects the request should cover.
  • A request may specify that a search should be conducted for specific search terms, or it may request a search for those terms as well as related terms or terms pertaining to the named subjects.
  • Requests should be specific enough that a records custodian will know what to look for, but not so specific that they might not include other applicable records.
• Note that if a request can be construed as overly broad either in regard to the search terms or the time period, it may be denied or delayed on those grounds. An overly broad request may also incur increased fees.

How should I submit my request?

State law may dictate how requests must be submitted. Depending on the state, options might include regular first-class mail, certified mail, fax, email, or in-person delivery. Certified mail and in-person delivery provide confirmation that the request was received by the entity in question. Email has the benefits of convenience and an automatic electronic paper trail. If an entity denies receiving a records request, the request can be resubmitted in a way that allows the requestor to record that the request was received.

In what format should I request the records be provided to me?

An individual might ask for copies of records to be provided by mail, email, fax, or on an electronic storage device. However, a public entity may not be legally required to provide records in the desired format if it is different than the one in which the record is maintained. It may be beneficial to provide the entity with multiple ways of fulfilling the request. For example, a request letter might say, "If you would prefer to email me the documents, my email address is _____. If you would prefer to mail me paper copies of the documents, my mailing address is _____."

See also

• Freedom of Information Act
• Deliberative process exemption

External links

• Student Press Law Center — Public Records Letter Generator
• National Freedom of Information Coalition — Sample FOIA Request Letters
• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press — Open Government Guide