Like all federal agencies, the Department of Justice (DOJ) generally has to disclose records requested in writing by any person.This is protected by the Freedom Of Information Act. However, since there are about 12 exclusions and exemptions they still can withhold things from you. The FOIA applies only to federal agencies not records held by Congress, the courts, or by state or local government agencies. Each state has its own public access laws that should be consulted for access to state and local records.
Below you will find a list of FOIA contacts for very specific Federal offices.
There is no real fee to make a FOIA request but they will charge you the direct costs of providing the information. They break it down in three fee categories
Commercial use requesters are charged for search time, document review, and duplication. News media, educational, and scientific requesters are charged for duplication only, after the first 100 pages. All other requesters are charged for search time (after two hours) and duplication (after 100 pages). In all cases, if the total fee does not exceed $14.00, the Justice Department will not charge any fee at all. In your request letter you may make a specific statement limiting the amount of fees you are willing to pay. If you do not, the Justice Department will assume that you are willing to pay fees of up to $25.00. If your estimated fees exceed $25.00, you will be given the opportunity to narrow your request in order to reduce the fees or you will be asked to express your commitment to pay the estimated amount. Ordinarily, you will not be required to actually pay the fees until the records have been processed and are ready to be sent to you. Fee schedule:
Be careful of what you ask for and know that the Feds may be monitoring things you aren’t even considering. In addition, if you want records about a court case, you should provide the title of the case, the court in which the case was filed, and the nature of the case.
Some Federal agencies like DEA and FBI get thousands of requests a year…but they can are required to respond to your request within 20 business days from the day they recieve it. Note that they wont send your records, they will only acknowledge reciept and inform you of fees and other pertinent infromation.
the exemptions (1) classified national defense and foreign relations information (2) internal agency rules and practices (3) information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law (4) trade secrets and other confidential business information (5) inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges; (6) information involving matters of personal privacy; (7) records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, to the extent that the production of those records (A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, (B) would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication, (C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, (D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, (E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, (F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual (8) information relating to the supervision of financial institutions; (9) geological information on wells. The three exclusions, which are rarely used, pertain to especially sensitive law enforcement and national security matters.
Federal Departments.
Federal Agencies
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