Reference
State Public Records Acts
The federal Freedom of Information Act binds federal agencies and nothing else. A police department, a county recorder and a school district are governed by state law, and those laws differ enormously.
Citing the wrong statute marks you as somebody who does not know what they’re doing, and it gives a reluctant clerk an easy reason to set your letter aside.
What varies between states
- The deadline. Vermont gives an agency three business days. Florida sets no fixed deadline at all, only a reasonable time.
- Whether there is an appeal body. Connecticut and Massachusetts have offices that issue orders. California has none — your only remedy is court.
- Who may request. A handful of states restrict requests to their own residents. Most don’t.
- Whether you must give a reason. Almost universally no, and Florida explicitly says you need not even give your name.
- What they may charge. Duplication almost always; search and review time sometimes.
Deadlines and appeal routes
| State | Deadline | Appeal to |
|---|---|---|
| California | 10 days to determine, +14 | Superior court only |
| Connecticut | 4 business days to acknowledge | Freedom of Information Commission |
| Florida | Reasonable time | AG mediation, or circuit court |
| Maine | 5 business days to acknowledge | Superior Court; Ombudsman mediates |
| Massachusetts | 10 business days | Supervisor of Records |
| New Hampshire | 5 business days | Ombudsman ($25) or Superior Court |
| Rhode Island | 10 business days, +20 | Attorney General, or Superior Court |
| Texas | 10 business days | Attorney General — agency must ask |
| Vermont | 3 business days | Agency head, then Superior Court |
Each state page carries the statute citation, the current deadline and the appeal route in full. More states are being added.
Cite the state act by name and section
“Under the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c. 66, § 10” is a different letter from “under FOIA”. The first gets routed to a records access officer; the second sometimes gets a reply explaining that FOIA doesn’t apply, which is both true and a waste of three weeks.
Find out whether silence is a denial
In most states, missing the statutory deadline is a constructive denial that you may appeal immediately. That’s a far better position than waiting politely.
Check before you assume. Where it applies, note the deadline date in your follow-up letter.
Use the appeal body where one exists
Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Commission and the Massachusetts Supervisor of Records both issue orders and cost nothing. Texas puts the burden on the agency to ask the Attorney General within ten business days, and if it fails to, the information is presumed public.
Those three are the strongest mechanisms in the country and they’re worth knowing well if you work those states.
Watch the residency requirements
A small number of states limit requests to residents. Where that applies and you’re out of state, a request made by a resident client, a local attorney, or a co-requester solves it.
Ask what the free allowance is
Many acts give a number of free pages or free staff hours before charging begins. Clerks don’t volunteer this.
Asking “what’s the statutory free allowance before fees apply” often turns a quoted charge into no charge.
Municipalities are the weak point everywhere. A state agency has a records officer who does this daily. A town clerk in a place of two thousand people may handle two requests a year and genuinely not know the deadline.
Be precise, be polite, cite the statute, and give them the format they can actually produce. Aggression with a small-town clerk costs you the record.
Every state, in one place
The FOIA Advantage
A complete guide to public records law in every state, with the resources and templates to work from, plus appeal strategy and real cases where a refusal was overturned. Free on Kindle.
See the book