How Do You Make A Freedom Of Information Law (FOIL) Request In New York State?
• Decide exactly what records you want. For this example, let’s say your neighbour was arrested and you want to know more about the arrest. • Determine what document would contain the information you need. In our example, we might be looking for the arrest report. • Determine what agency would have custody of the arrest report. For our example, let’s say you know that your neighbour was arrested by the State Troopers. • Find out who their “Records Access Officer” is. This information will likely be posted on their website, try searching Google for “Records Access Officer” “agency name” (include the quotations). For state agencies, the information should be listed at http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/ils/topics/govtrecs.htm#raolist. • Draft a letter to the RAO requesting the information. Make sure you clearly state what you are looking for and include as much information as possible. In our example, we would want to include the date (or range of dates) our neighbour was arrested, our neighbour’
