1.Met legal deadline to acknowledge request within five business days and then either granted, denied or requested an extension on the request within 20 business days.
2.Provided list of names of employees detailing their names, titles, offices and salaries, a list that government agencies are required by law to maintain and provide upon request.
3.Provided the subject matter listing, a document listing the types of records that the agency keeps on file, which agencies are also required to maintain and provide upon request.
4.Provided a copy of the agency’s policy detailing its protocol for responding to records requests, a policy which FOIL law requires municipalities to codify. Local governments are required to have a written FOIL policy that stipulates who the freedom of information officer is, what hours a person making a FOIL request can pick up files, to whom appeals of record request denials should be made, and other information.
5.Provided copies of the five most recent minutes of legislative meetings, which legislative bodies are legally required to maintain and provide within two weeks of meeting. This request was only sent to villages, cities and towns, not the counties.
6.Governments and agencies received a point if we didn’t have to appeal a denial of a FOIL request, got a half point if we had appeal a denial that was in writing explaining why a request was denied and stated to whom an appeal of a FOIL denial should be made, as required by law, but agencies were deducted a point if we had to appeal and the agency didn’t respond to the appeal within 10 days as required by law.
7.Governments and agencies received a point if they didn’t charge us for electronic copies of requested documents or charged us the legally allowed 25 cents per page for paper copies. They lost a point for excessive fees.
8.Governments and agencies received a point if we didn’t have to follow up for a response, lost a half point if we had to follow up once, lost a full point if we had to follow up twice and were deducted a point if we had to follow up three or more times.
9.Governments and agencies received a point if they provided the documents via email but received no points if they were only able to send paper copies in the mail. A half point was awarded if a portion of the documents were emailed.
10. In the helpfulness category, governments and agencies received one point for turning over the documents well before the legal deadline, sending documents they’re not required to maintain—including board meeting agendas, FOIL logs or subpoena logs—emailing copies of documents listed on their website when they could have sent a link or having directions on their website explaining how to request records.