FOIA request tracking software that starts the clock where the statute does
FOIA request tracking is the case management work behind the Freedom of Information Act at 5 U.S.C. 552: logging each request on receipt, starting the statutory clock, tasking records searches, applying exemptions, calculating fees and issuing a response. Agencies have 20 business days to make a determination, with a 10 working day extension in unusual circumstances, and there are 9 statutory exemptions. Neurobird tracks all of it and assembles the annual report figures.
Neurobird FOIA Request Tracking in short
- Log requests on receipt so the 20 business day clock starts where the statute says it does
- Task searches to program offices and track which are late without chasing by email
- Record exemptions and dispositions per request as you apply them, not at reporting time
- 552 The Freedom of Information Act is codified at 5 U.S.C. 552 and sets the request, determination, appeal and reporting obligations every federal agency carries. US Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy
- 20 days Agencies have 20 business days to determine whether to comply with a request, extendable by 10 working days in unusual circumstances. US Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy
- Pricing runs 140 to 620 US dollars per month across 3 tiers. Early access is free.
What public records and FOIA offices actually deal with
Why it stays broken
Most offices run FOIA out of a shared mailbox and a spreadsheet, so the clock is a manual calculation and the annual report is a hand count. Federal agencies together process on the order of 1,200,000 requests a year, and the tooling underneath is inconsistent office to office.
A request that sits unlogged for 3 days has already spent 15 percent of its statutory clock.
Federal agencies are required to disclose any information requested under the FOIA unless it falls under one of nine exemptions which protect interests such as personal privacy, national security, and law enforcement.
Neurobird FOIA Request Tracking Document Automation Platform
Log on receipt, task in the system, record the exemption when you apply it. The clock, the backlog and the annual report all become byproducts of the work.
- 1Log requests on receipt so the 20 business day clock starts where the statute says it does
- 2Task searches to program offices and track which are late without chasing by email
- 3Record exemptions and dispositions per request as you apply them, not at reporting time
- 4Produce annual report figures from the case record rather than from a hand count
What changes with Neurobird FOIA Request Tracking?
The same work, read left to right: how it runs today, and how it runs once the record is in one place.
| Today | With Neurobird FOIA Request Tracking |
|---|---|
| The statutory clock starts on receipt and the request sits in an inbox for 3 days before anybody logs it | Log requests on receipt so the 20 business day clock starts where the statute says it does |
| Searches are tasked to program offices by email, so nobody can say which office is late and by how many days | Task searches to program offices and track which are late without chasing by email |
| The annual report asks for counts by exemption, disposition and processing time, and the data to answer it was never structured | Record exemptions and dispositions per request as you apply them, not at reporting time |
Who is this for?
Same statute, three different offices.
You are the whole FOIA shop
You log, search, review and respond yourself. You need the clock calculated for you and the annual report to stop being a week of counting.
You task across program offices
Your delay is almost always someone else's search. You need lateness visible by office, with a date attached to every tasking.
You work under a state statute
Different clock, different exemptions, same shape of work. You need the deadlines and categories configured to your law, not to the federal one.
How does Neurobird FOIA Request Tracking work?
Log on receipt
Every request gets a tracking number and a due date the moment it arrives, so the 20 business day clock is never reconstructed from an email timestamp.
Task the search
Program offices get their piece with a date attached, and lateness is visible by office rather than discovered when the deadline passes.
Record as you decide
Exemptions, dispositions, page counts and fee category are captured per request, so annual report figures come out of the case record.
The queue, as your office would run it
A working preview. Tick an item to advance the request.
Watch the fields extract from the document.
What FOIA actually requires
Useful if you run a records office or are scoping a backlog. Each source links out.
The Freedom of Information Act is codified at 5 U.S.C. 552 and sets the request, determination, appeal and reporting obligations every federal agency carries.
US Department of Justice, Office of Information PolicyAgencies have 20 business days to determine whether to comply with a request, extendable by 10 working days in unusual circumstances.
US Department of Justice, Office of Information PolicyThere are 9 statutory exemptions and 3 special law enforcement exclusions, and the exemption applied to each withholding has to be reported annually.
FOIA.govFederal agencies together receive on the order of 1.2 million FOIA requests a year, reported through the government wide annual report data.
FOIA.gov annual report dataThe Office of Government Information Services was created by the OPEN Government Act of 2007 and acts as the federal FOIA ombudsman at the National Archives.
National Archives, OGISFoia request tracking software questions, answered
Key terms
- What is FOIA request tracking?
- FOIA request tracking is the case management work behind the Freedom of Information Act at 5 U.S.C. 552: logging each request on receipt, starting the statutory clock, tasking records searches, applying exemptions, calculating fees and issuing a response. Agencies must also report annually on volumes, dispositions, exemptions and processing times.
- What is OGIS?
- The Office of Government Information Services sits at the National Archives and acts as the federal FOIA ombudsman, offering mediation between requesters and agencies and reviewing agency compliance. It was created by the OPEN Government Act of 2007.
How long does an agency have to respond?
The statute gives 20 business days to determine whether to comply with a request, with a 10 working day extension available in unusual circumstances. That is a determination deadline, not a delivery deadline, which is why backlog and processing time are tracked separately.
How many exemptions does FOIA have?
There are 9 statutory exemptions covering things like classified national security information, internal personnel rules, information protected by other statutes, trade secrets, deliberative process, personal privacy, law enforcement records, bank supervision and geological data. There are also 3 special law enforcement exclusions.
Does this work for state public records laws?
The clocks and exemptions differ by state, but the shape of the work is the same: log on receipt, task a search, review, redact, respond and report. The tracking layer is configurable rather than hard wired to the federal statute.
Why we are building this
FOIA is a deadline driven case management problem, and most offices run it out of a shared mailbox. The statutory clock starts on receipt, which means a request that sits unlogged for 3 days has already burned part of its window before anyone reads it.
Then the annual report arrives and asks for counts by exemption, disposition and processing time, and the data to answer it was never structured, so somebody counts by hand.
We would rather build this with people who actually process requests. Tell us how your office runs today, and where we have got it wrong.
Where the requirement comes from
The statute, the guidance and the government wide data.
- FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552 The statute itself, including determination deadlines, exemptions, fees and reporting duties.
- DOJ Office of Information Policy Government wide FOIA policy guidance and the annual report requirements agencies follow.
- FOIA.gov annual report data Government wide request volumes, dispositions, exemptions and processing times.
- National Archives, OGIS The federal FOIA ombudsman, offering mediation and compliance review.
How much does Neurobird FOIA Request Tracking cost?
Priced per agency or component because reporting is per reporting entity. Requests, analysts and program offices are unlimited on every tier.
- Request logging on receipt
- Statutory clock and due dates
- Requester correspondence
- Status queue
- Email support
- Everything in Small office
- Search tasking to program offices
- Exemption and disposition capture
- Fee category tracking
- Named contact
- Everything in Agency component
- Multi component roll up
- Annual report figure assembly
- Appeal and litigation tracking
- Onboarding included
Get free early access
If you process public records requests, tell us how the clock and the search tasking work today.
Straight answer on where this is: In development. Early access gets the working preview, a say in what ships first, and early access pricing. It does not get you a login today.
Prefer email? Write to office@neurobird.com and a person will reply. No autoresponder.