Public Access Opinion 14-014

Freedom of Information Act: failure to respond to a FOIA request

This opinion, binding on the parties, demonstrates that the failure to respond to a FOIA request violates FOIA. The Public Access Counselor directed the City of Harvey to immediately provide the records, subject only to permissible redactions and exemptions, and to issue timely responses to future FOIA requests. The takeaway is that the PAC will rule against a public body if the public body ignores FOIA requests.