NY State Senate Bill 2021-S2916

Senate Bill S2916

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Clarifies the amount of time an agency has to respond to a request under the freedom of information law

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to investigations and government operations
Jan 26, 2021	referred to investigations and government operations

co-Sponsors

2021-S2916 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:: Public Officers Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §89, Pub Off L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S5322

2021-S2916 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides that any entity subject to the provisions of article six of the public officers law which does not grant or deny a request for a record within twenty-five days of such request shall be deemed to have denied the request for such record; makes related provisions.

2021-S2916 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S2916

SPONSOR: SERINO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to clarifying the
amount of time an agency has to respond to a request under the freedom
of information law

 
PURPOSE:

To ensure timely responses to freedom of information law requests.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends Section 89 of the Public Officers Law to require that
freedom of information law requests shall be granted or denied in no
longer than 25 days following the receipt of such request.  Provides
that in cases where a request that has not been granted or denied within
25 days, or that has been granted but the records are not provided with-
in 40 days of such request, shall be deemed to have been denied by the

entity subject to such request. Requires agencies to retrieve or extract
a record or data maintained in a computer storage system when they have
the ability to do so.

Section 2: Allows any person to have been deemed to have been denied
access to a record pursuant to the amendments of Section 1 to appeal
such denial.

Section 3: Provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Although there has long been criticism about delays in responses to
Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests, the delays have been exacer-
bated during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdowns.  While the
pandemic has created unique challenges to the public sector, just as it
had the private sector, now-more than ever-it is essential that govern-
ment agencies are responsive to the public in a timely manner.

Currently, the FOIL process requires entities to provide written
acknowledgement of receipt of FOIL requests within five days of such
receipt, and entities must subsequently provide an explanation if they
are unable to disclose the requested record or records within 20 days.
However, far too often, agencies have used the written explanation to
continuously delay ever producing the records requested by the public.

This legislation would amend the FOIL Law to expedite the process by
requiring requests to be granted or denied within 25 days of receipt of
each request. If the request is not granted or denied within such time,
or if the request is granted but the records are not provided within 40
days of the request, it shall be deemed to have been denied. Denied
requests may then be appealed within 30 days, which then requires the
denying entity to explain in writing the reason for the denial or
provide access to the record sought within 10 business days of receipt
of the appeal, as well as forward a copy of the appeal to the Committee
on Open Government.


By expediting the process to grant or deny FOIL requests, this legis-
lation would ensure pertinent and critical information can be provided
to the public and will improve government transparency, while helping to
guide relevant stakeholders in making informed decisions based on the
most up-to-date information.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2021-S2916 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2916
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 26, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  SERINO, O'MARA -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the  Committee  on  Investigations
   and Government Operations
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the public officers law, in relation to clarifying the
   amount of time an agency has to respond to a request under the freedom
   of information law

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 89 of the public
 officers law, as amended by chapter 223 of the laws of 2008, is  amended
 to read as follows:
   (a) Each entity subject to the provisions of this article, within five
 business  days  of the receipt of a written request for a record reason-
 ably described, shall make such record available to the person  request-
 ing  it,  deny such request in writing or furnish a written acknowledge-
 ment of the receipt of such request and a statement of the [approximate]
 date, which shall be [reasonable under the circumstances of the request]
 NO LONGER THAN TWENTY DAYS, when such request will be granted or denied,
 including, where appropriate, a statement that access to the record will
 be determined in accordance with subdivision five of this  section.  ANY
 ENTITY SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE WHICH DOES NOT GRANT OR
 DENY  A  REQUEST  FOR  A  RECORD WITHIN TWENTY-FIVE DAYS OF SUCH REQUEST
 SHALL BE DEEMED TO HAVE DENIED THE REQUEST FOR SUCH RECORD.  ANY  ENTITY
 SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE WHICH GRANTS ANY REQUEST FOR A
 RECORD  WITHIN  TWENTY-FIVE  DAYS  OF SUCH REQUEST, BUT FAILS TO PROVIDE
 SUCH RECORDS WITHIN FORTY DAYS OF SUCH REQUEST, SHALL BE DEEMED TO  HAVE
 DENIED  THE  REQUEST FOR SUCH RECORD. An agency shall not deny a request
 on the basis that the request is voluminous or that locating or  review-
 ing  the  requested records or providing the requested copies is burden-
 some because the agency lacks sufficient staffing or on any other  basis
 if  the  agency  may  engage  an outside professional service to provide
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD07307-01-1

 S. 2916                             2
 
 copying, programming or other services required to provide the copy, the
 costs of which the agency may  recover  pursuant  to  paragraph  (c)  of
 subdivision  one  of section eighty-seven of this article. An agency may
 require  a  person  requesting lists of names and addresses to provide a
 written certification that such person will not use such lists of  names
 and  addresses  for  solicitation  or fund-raising purposes and will not
 sell, give or otherwise make available such lists of names and addresses
 to any other person for the purpose of allowing that person to use  such
 lists  of names and addresses for solicitation or fund-raising purposes.
 If an agency determines to grant a request in whole or in part,  and  if
 circumstances  prevent disclosure to the person requesting the record or
 records within twenty business days from the date of the acknowledgement
 of the receipt of the request, the agency shall state, in writing,  both
 the reason for the inability to grant the request within twenty business
 days  and  a  date  certain within a reasonable period, depending on the
 circumstances, when the request will be granted in  whole  or  in  part.
 Upon payment of, or offer to pay, the fee prescribed therefor, the enti-
 ty shall provide a copy of such record and certify to the correctness of
 such  copy if so requested, or as the case may be, shall certify that it
 does not have possession of such record or that such  record  cannot  be
 found  after diligent search. Nothing in this article shall be construed
 to require any entity to prepare any record not possessed or  maintained
 by  such  entity  except  the  records specified in subdivision three of
 section eighty-seven and subdivision three of  section  eighty-eight  of
 this  article.  When  an agency has the ability to retrieve or extract a
 record or data maintained in a computer storage system [with  reasonable
 effort],  it  shall  be  required  to do so. When doing so requires less
 employee time than engaging in manual retrieval or redactions from  non-
 electronic  records, the agency shall be required to retrieve or extract
 such  record  or  data  electronically.  Any  programming  necessary  to
 retrieve  a record maintained in a computer storage system and to trans-
 fer that record to the medium requested by a  person  or  to  allow  the
 transferred  record  to be read or printed shall not be deemed to be the
 preparation or creation of a new record.
   § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section 89 of the public  offi-
 cers  law,  as  amended by chapter 22 of the laws of 2005, is amended to
 read as follows:
   (a) Except as provided in subdivision five of this section, any person
 denied access to a record, OR DEEMED TO HAVE BEEN  DENIED  ACCESS  TO  A
 RECORD  PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION THREE OF THIS SECTION, may within thirty
 days appeal in writing such denial  to  the  head,  chief  executive  or
 governing  body of the entity, or the person therefor designated by such
 head, chief executive, or governing body, who shall within ten  business
 days  of  the  receipt  of  such  appeal fully explain in writing to the
 person requesting the record the reasons for further denial, or  provide
 access  to the record sought. In addition, each agency shall immediately
 forward to the committee on open government a copy of such  appeal  when
 received by the agency and the ensuing determination thereon. Failure by
 an  agency  to  conform  to  the provisions of subdivision three of this
 section shall constitute a denial.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S2916

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Sponsored By

Susan Serino