After you describe the FOIA to someone whom you have just met at a party, he says that he would like ...

You can tell them that there is no central office in the government that handles FOIA requests for all federal departments and agencies. Each federal agency processes its own records in response to FOIA requests. There are many different officials at these agencies who work hard every day to make sure that the FOIA works. There are the FOIA professionals who search for and process records in response to FOIA requests, FOIA Contacts and FOIA Public Liaisons who work with FOIA requesters to answer questions and resolve concerns, and Chief FOIA Officers who oversee their agency’s compliance with the FOIA.

After an agency receives your FOIA request, you will usually receive a letter acknowledging the request with an assigned tracking number. If the agency requires additional information before it can begin to process your request, it will contact you. The agency will typically search for records in response to your request and then review those records to determine which – and what parts of each – can be released. The agency will redact, or black out, any information protected from disclosure by one of the FOIA’s nine exemptions. The releasable records will then be sent to you.