Essential Elements of a FOIA Request Letter
Send the Letter to the Following Addresses
Joint Interagency Task Force South Attn: Mr. Samuel Ault / Mr. Jeffrey Matthews Building 9051 Key West, FL 33040
Sample Request
Dear FOIA Officer, I am requesting records on [identify the subject(s) or record(s) as clearly and specifically as possible.] If there are any fees for searching, reviewing, or copying the records, please let me know before you task my request. [or, please supply the records without informing me of the cost if the fees do not exceed a certain dollar amount, which I will agree to pay. If you deny all or any part of this request, please cite each specific exemption you think justifies your refusal to release the information and notify me of appeal procedures available under the law. Optional: If you have any questions about this request, you may call me at (home phone) or at my (office phone). Sincerely, Name Address
Dear FOIA Officer,
I am requesting records on [identify the subject(s) or record(s) as clearly and specifically as possible.]
If there are any fees for searching, reviewing, or copying the records, please let me know before you task my request. [or, please supply the records without informing me of the cost if the fees do not exceed a certain dollar amount, which I will agree to pay.
If you deny all or any part of this request, please cite each specific exemption you think justifies your refusal to release the information and notify me of appeal procedures available under the law.
Optional: If you have any questions about this request, you may call me at (home phone) or at my (office phone).
Sincerely,
Name Address
Categories and Fees
Fee Categories
Fees
The FOIA provides for the collection of fees for:
FOIA Exemptions
Records that meet the FOIA exemption criteria may be withheld from public disclosure and do not have to be published in the Federal Register, made available in a library reading room, or provided in response to a FOIA request. The following types of records may be withheld in whole or in part from public disclosure under the FOIA:
Exemption # 1 Those properly and currently classified in the interest of national defense/security or foreign policy. If the information qualifies as exemption 1, there is no-discretion regarding its release.
Exemption # 2 Those related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the Department of Defense or any of its components.
Exemption # 3 Those concerning matters that a statute specifically exempts from disclosure by terms that permit no discretion on the issue. A few examples of such statues are: Patent secrecy, restricted data, communication intelligence, confidentiality of medical quality, contractor proposals, etc.
Exemption # 4 Those containing trade secrets or commercial or financial information that a DoD component receives from a person or organization outside the government. The disclosure of such records will likely cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the source providing the information.
Exemption # 5 Those containing information considered privileged in litigation, primarily under the deliberative process privilege.
Exemption # 6 Information of personnel and medical files, as well as similar personal information in other files, that would result in a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Exemption # 7 Records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes; i.e., civil criminal, or military law, including the implementation of Executive Orders or regulations issued pursuant to law.
Exemption # 8 Records pertaining to the regulation or supervision of financial institutions.
Exemption # 9 Those records containing geological and geophysical information and data (including maps) concerning wells.