Yes. You can file an appeal if the agency denies your request for documents under one of the statutory exemptions, or if no documents were found and you think that the agency’s search was inadequate, or if the agency ignores or fails to respond to your request within a reasonable period of time. Under federal FOIA law, you may also appeal a refusal to grant a fee waiver or a refusal to provide expedited processing.

You should first file an administrative appeal with higher officials within the agency. This constitutes writing an appeal letter to the appropriate agency appeals office, which the agency should identify for you in their response letter. You do not need a lawyer to file an administrative appeal.

If that appeal is rejected, or if the agency fails to respond to your appeal, you can file suit in federal court for a FOIA request or state court for a FOIL request, where the agency will bear the burden of justifying their denial of your request.

There may be deadlines for an administrative appeal or a statute of limitations for filing an appeal in court, so you should check with the agency or with a lawyer first. The courts generally require that you give the agency a reasonable opportunity to respond to your request before initiating judicial proceedings.

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Dated: August 2006