In addition to providing their annual reports to the Attorney  General, agencies are to make them available to the public in  electronic form. The FOIA Process at Federal Agencies

Although the specific details of processes for handling FOIA  requests vary among agencies, the major steps in handling a request  are similar across the government. Agencies receive requests,  usually in writing (although they may accept requests by telephone  or electronically), which can come from any organization or  member of the public. Once received, the request goes through  several phases, which include initial processing, searching for and  retrieving responsive records, preparing responsive records for  release, approving the release of the records, and releasing the  records to the requester. FOIA Implementation

Citizens have been requesting and receiving an ever-increasing  amount of information from the federal government, as reflected in  the increasing number of FOIA requests that have been received and  processed in recent years. From 2002 to  2004, the number of requests received increased by 71 percent, and  the number of requests processed increased by 68 percent. Agency Backlogs Have Increased

In addition to processing greater numbers of requests, many  agencies (13 of 25) also reported that their backlogs of pending  requests—requests carried over from one year to the next—have  increased since 2002. In summary, FOIA continues to be a valuable tool for citizens to  obtain information about the operation and decisions of the federal  government.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) establishes that federal agencies must provide the public with access to government information, thus enabling them to learn about government operations and decisions. To help ensure appropriate implementation, the act requires that agencies report annually to the Attorney General, providing specific information about their FOIA operations. GAO has reported previously on the contents of these annual reports for 25 major agencies. GAO was asked to describe the FOIA process and discuss the reported implementation of FOIA.

What GAO Found

Although the specific details of processes for handling FOIA requests vary among agencies, the major steps in handling a request are similar across the government. Agencies receive requests, usually in writing (although they may accept requests by telephone or electronically), which can be submitted by any organization or member of the public. Once requests are received, the agency responds through a process that includes several phases: initial processing, searching for and retrieving responsive records, preparing responsive records for release, approving the release of the records, and releasing the records to the requester. According to data reported by agencies in their annual FOIA reports, citizens have been requesting and receiving an ever-increasing amount of information from the federal government through FOIA. The number of requests that agencies received increased by 71 percent from 2002 to 2004. Further, agencies reported they have been processing more requests--68 percent more from 2002 to 2004. For 92 percent of requests processed in 2004, agencies reported that responsive records were provided in full to requesters. However, the number of pending requests carried over from year to year--known as the backlog--has also been increasing, rising 14 percent since 2002.