Generally speaking, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides that any person has the right to obtain access to federal agency records except to the extent that those records are protected from disclosure under FOIA or by some other statute. However, formal FOIA requests are unnecessary if you are seeking publicly available information. If you are unable to find the document you are seeking on our website, please contact David Pritzker, the FOIA Liaison, for assistance prior to filing a formal FOIA request. By seeking assistance prior to filing a formal request, the response time may be faster.
It is also important to understand that each federal agency responds to requests for its own records. Therefore, before sending a request to ACUS you should determine whether ACUS actually is likely to have the records that you are seeking. Each federal agency is required to provide reference material to assist those who wish to request records from it, so you should view the website of any particular agency that might have the records in question. By doing so you will learn what records are already available on that website and you will also be able to determine which agency is likely to maintain the records you are seeking. Contact information for other federal departments and agencies is available on the FOIA home page of the United States Department of Justice, at http://www.foia.gov/report-makerequest.html.
In 1996, after ACUS ceased operations, the agency’s rules on how to make formal FOIA requests were deleted from Title 1, Part 304 of the CFR. On April 5, 2011, after a public comment period, the Administrative Conference published its final rule that implements the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act.
For questions regarding the status of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, and where to find publicly available information on our website, contact FOIA Liaison
David Pritzker at 202.480.2080 or dpritzker@acus.gov.
For substantive questions regarding FOIA, contact Designated FOIA Officer Shawne McGibbon at 202.480.2088 or smcgibbon@acus.gov.