Record/Information/Dissemination
Section (RIDS)
- Mission: to effectively
plan, develop, direct and manage responses to requests
for access to FBI records and information. The requests
and disclosure comply with the Freedom of Information
and Privacy Acts (Title 5, United States Code, Section
552 and 552a), Executive Order 12958, as amended,
Presidential, Attorney General, and FBI policies
and procedures, judicial decisions, and other Presidential
and Congressional directives. In furtherance of
this mission, RIDS efforts are directed to appropriately
release information in an efficient and effective
manner protecting legitimate law enforcement, foreign
policy, and national security and defense interests
and to remain forthcoming to the American public.
-
Staff: RIDS currently employs approximately 300
employees, most of whom are Legal Administrative
Specialists. RIDS consists of 11 Units whose shared
function is to intake, review, process, and release
information in response to FOIA and Privacy Act
requests.
-
Use of technology to expedite customer service:
We’ve moved to paperless processing through
our FOIPA Document Processing Systems (FDPS),
compliant with the legal requirements under E-FOIA
for the electronic processing of requests for
documents classified at the “Secret”
level or below. The FDPS allows the FBI to scan
official FBI paper files, documents, and correspondence,
and then process them electronically rather than
by the traditional method of redacting information
manually on paper. RIDS is using the system for
all new FOIA and Privacy Act requests.
-
Maintenance of FOIA reading rooms: RIDS maintains
the FBI Reading Room in FBIHQ. All Reading Room
documents have been converted to CD ROMs, each
CD holding some 16,000 pages of text and photos.
These can be purchased on site for $15 per CD.
RIDS also maintains the Electronic Reading Room
located on this website.
Backlog
Reduction Goals
| Fiscal
Year |
Number
of Pending Requests at Beginning of FY |
Estimated
Number of Requests Incoming During FY |
Agency's
Goal for Number of Requests to be
Processed During FY
|
Agency's
Goal for
Number of Requests
Pending Beyond
Statutory Time
Period (i.e.,
Backlog) at End of FY |
| 2008 |
1,954 |
13,200 |
13,200 |
1,500* |
| Fiscal
Year |
Projected
Number of Appeals Beyond Statutory Time Period
(Backlog) at the Beginning of FY |
Estimated
Number of Requests Incoming During FY |
Agency's
Goal for Number of Requests to be
Processed During FY
|
Agency's
Goal for
Number of Requests
Pending Beyond
Statutory Time
Period (i.e.,
Backlog) at End of FY |
|
2009 |
1,500 |
13,200 |
13,200 |
1,500* |
|
2010 |
1,500 |
13,200 |
13,500 |
1,300* |
*The
FBI has a comprehensive program to enhance its record
keeping processes, including the development of the
new Central Records Complex (CRC) in Winchester, Virginia.
These initiatives will significantly improve search
and record-retrieval capabilities by increasing search
accuracy; by decreasing search time; and by reducing
lost files, missing serials, and the manual movement
of files. When complete, the overall impact will be
to reduce even further the FBI's Freedom of Information/Privacy
Act numbers and processing times. The FBI is in the
process of moving to interim facilities in Winchester
and is building and training a new work force in expectation
of moving into the CRC in 2010. While in the process
of this move, the FBI is experiencing a loss of experienced
employees. This loss of employees during the transition
to Winchester impacts the ability of the FBI to reduce
in the near term the number of pending requests. Nevertheless,
the FBI is striving to reduce the number of pending
requests and processing times to the greatest extent
possible.
|
