How do I request public records in City of Washington DC?
Discussion

How do I request public records in City of Washington DC?

Generated by lexflow from the state statutes (open-us-law, government publisher text) and checked by Claude: every quoted phrase was matched word for word against the statute text, and the process passed the BPMN/DMN schemas, bpmnlint and a Petri-net soundness check. Information, not legal advice.

In DC, anyone can ask a District agency for public records under the DC Freedom of Information Act (DC Code §§ 2-531 to 2-539). The easiest way is the DC Government Public FOIA Portal (myfoia.dc.gov). You can also send your request to the agency's FOIA Officer by mail, fax or email. Requests to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer go through a separate OCFO portal. It costs nothing to submit a request, but agencies can charge for searching, reviewing and copying under 1 DCMR § 408, and you can ask for a fee waiver or reduction. Agencies must answer within 15 business days and can add 10 more business days. If you are denied, you can file an administrative appeal with the Mayor through the portal, by email to foia.appeals@dc.gov, or by mail to the Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel. After that you can file a civil action in DC Superior Court.

Confidence 1.00: state law 1.00, local 1.00, contact 1.00. Full state model: records

What state law requires

Request record, reasonably describing it — Requester (§ 2-532(c)(1))
Decide whether to extend the time limit — D.C. public body (§ 2-532(d)(1))
Send written notice of reasons and expected date — D.C. public body (§ 2-532(d)(1))
Grant access or give written reasons for denial — D.C. public body · within 15 business days (§ 2-532(c)(1))
Grant access or give reasons by extended date — D.C. public body · within 25 business days (§ 2-532(d)(1))
Request deemed denied — D.C. public body (§ 2-532(e))
Provide segregable portion; mark and explain deletions — D.C. public body (§ 2-534(b))
Set fees within the statutory limits — D.C. public body (§ 2-532(b))
Provide record in the requested format — D.C. public body (§ 2-532(a-1))
Petition the Mayor to review the denial — Requester (§ 2-537(a))
Decide in writing whether record may be withheld — Mayor (FOIA appeals) · within 10 business days (§ 2-537(a))
Mayor did not decide in time — Mayor (FOIA appeals) (§ 2-537(a)(1))
Order public body to disclose immediately — Mayor (FOIA appeals) (§ 2-537(a)(2))
Sue in D.C. Superior Court — Requester (§ 2-537(a)(1))
Sue to compel production of the record — Requester (§ 2-537(a)(2))

What City of Washington DC adds

Submit a FOIA request online through the DC Public FOIA Portal — Any person; directed to the DC public body holding the records. Go to https://myfoia.dc.gov (it redirects to a GovQA portal at myfoiadc.govqa.us), choose the agency and describe the records reasonably. Requests for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer go to the OCFO's own portal (foia-ocfo.arkcase.com), which dc.gov/foia links to. (source)
Or submit by mail, fax or email to the agency FOIA Officer — FOIA Officer of the public body. Mark the outside of the envelope, or the subject line of the fax or email, 'Freedom of Information Act Request' or 'FOIA Request'. Include a daytime phone number, email address or mailing address. (source)
Address fees, or ask for a fee waiver — Requester. Submitting is free. Search, review and copying fees can apply under 1 DCMR § 408, and you may have to pay search or review fees even if no records are found. To ask for a waiver or reduction, include it in your request letter. Under 1 DCMR 408.10, the letter should explain how the records will be used to benefit the general public. You can also say up front how much you are willing to pay. (source)
Wait for the response (15 business days, with a possible 10-business-day extension) — Public body. Weekends and legal holidays are not counted. The agency can extend the deadline by 10 more business days. Under D.C. Code § 2-532(e), a missed deadline counts as a denial, which you can appeal. (source)
Appeal a denial to the Mayor — Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel. File through myfoia.dc.gov, by email to foia.appeals@dc.gov, or by mail to Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel, FOIA Appeal, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 407, Washington, DC 20004. Include a copy of the original request and any written denial. You must also send a copy of the appeal to the public body whose denial you are appealing. (source)
Seek judicial review if needed — DC Superior Court. File a civil action under the Superior Court's rules. (source)

Who to contact

Submit and track FOIA requests and appeals (redirects to myfoiadc.govqa.us): DC Government Public FOIA Portal
Requests to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (linked from dc.gov/foia): OCFO FOIA portal
FOIA administrative appeals to the Mayor: foia.appeals@dc.gov
Mailing address for FOIA appeals: Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel, FOIA Appeal, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 407, Washington, DC 20004
DC FOIA overview page: dc.gov/foia

Local law

D.C. Code § 2-532 (Freedom of Information; right to inspect public records): Any person may inspect and copy public records, subject to the exemptions in § 2-534. A public body must respond within 15 days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and legal public holidays. It can extend that time in unusual circumstances, and a missed deadline counts as a denial.
D.C. Code §§ 2-531 to 2-539: The DC Freedom of Information Act as a whole, which dc.gov/foia cites as the governing law, including exemptions, appeals to the Mayor and judicial review.
1 DCMR § 408 (FOIA fees): Lets public bodies charge for searching, reviewing and reproducing records. It also covers fee waivers and reductions when the records serve the public interest.

Fees. No fee to submit. Agencies may charge for search, review and copying under 1 DCMR § 408. According to dc.gov/foia, search or review fees can apply even if no responsive records are found. A 2013 copy of 1 DCMR 408 hosted by the Office of the People's Counsel (not an official current source) lists these rates: $0.25 per page for photocopies; search at $4, $7 or $10 per quarter hour after the first hour, for clerical, professional or supervisory staff respectively; initial review at the same rates; and $1 per certified true copy. An agency may waive all or part of a fee when that is in the agency's or the public's interest, and a requester asking for a waiver must explain how the records will benefit the general public.

Caveats

The per-page and hourly FOIA rates come from a 2013 copy of 1 DCMR 408 hosted by opc-dc.gov, not the current official text on dcregs.dc.gov. Individual agencies (for example DCPS and OCFO) may publish their own fee schedules.
The 2013 text of 408.5 says no fee is charged for review to decide whether a record can be disclosed. dc.gov/foia says review fees may apply even when no records are found. Check the current rule.
myfoia.dc.gov currently redirects to myfoiadc.govqa.us, and I did not fetch the portal's content. The OCFO portal page loaded only the title 'Public Portal', so I confirmed it only through the dc.gov/foia link.
Some independent bodies (for example OCFO) use separate portals, and the DC Council and courts may have their own records processes. I did not verify those.
The 15-day clock is in business days. The extension is up to 10 more business days; § 2-532(d) limits it to unusual circumstances.

Sources

← City of Washington DC · District of Columbia

Table of Contents