The Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, establishes a baseline for municipalities to adhere to whenever they are in need of performing the role of publisher and publishing house. Each municipality is obligated to have one designated FOIA officer, along with other municipal officials being trained regarding the production and distribution of public documentation.
Although some municipalities have FOIA Request forms, there is no need to seek a standardized form with a request. A simple letter addressed to the FOIA officer along with a short checklist of information provided by you should suffice and there may be fees associated with the request, depending on the page count.
Each State publishes information regarding their FOIA Request policies and procedures and you are also encouraged to look at Federal sunshine laws as well for more insight into these laws.
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