Session 20 - FOIA Paranoia and How to Avoid the Lawyers

This session takes a deliberate, humorous look at some of the most interesting, most perplexing, and most intricate public records requests in recent history. The session begins with a brief history of the Freedom of Information Act, manual vs automated handling of public records requests, best practices for either approach, and how to avoid non-compliance, lawsuits and your agency being in the headlines.

Attendees of this session can expect to learn the following:

  • The history of the Freedom of Information Act
  • Why records transparency is important for democracy
  • The optimal mental mindset for handling public records requests
  • Best practices to process requests and respond to appeals
  • What to do when things go sideways, and they will

Target Audiences: Federal, State/Tribal, Local, Public Institutions of Higher Learning

Focus Areas: Records Management

Presenter: Jess Howe, Account Executive IV, NextRequest and ArchiveSocial, Powered by CivicPlus