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Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

The Ten Oldest Pending FOIA Requests

The National Security Archive
Freedom of Information Act Audit

 
Press Release
Executive Summary
The Ten Oldest FOIA Requests in the Federal Government
Chart - Agency Response Times
Table - Oldest Outstanding FOIA Requests
Methodology
Findings Regarding The Ten Oldest FOIA Requests and FOIA Backlogs
Summary Discussion of Individual Agencies
Update on Phase One: The Ashcroft Memorandum
FOIA Audit Phase One: The Ashcroft Memo

 

 

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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD)
UNABLE TO DETERMINE AGENCY BACKLOG
Recordkeeping Issues - HUD put the request into its complex queue for processing. When the Archive questioned the reason for this, the agency did not provide an explanation and indicated that the category would not be changed.
Ten Oldest - Nothing yet received.
Workload Statistics - HUD's reported statistics from 1998 through 2002 indicate that the agency has received a decreased number of FOIA requests (down 4.29% from 3354 in 1998 to 3210 in 2002). The number processed each year has increased (up 9.27% from 2827 processed in 1998 to 3089 processed in 2002) (note: the number processed for 2002 does not include 1082 requests that were administratively closed in the year because responses had been provided in previous years). HUD's processing rate per year -- a comparison of the number of requests processed to the number received -- increased from 84.29% in 1998 to 129.94% in 2002.
Backlog Statistics - HUD's backlog of pending FOIA requests has decreased (from 1456 FOIA requests pending at the end of 1998 to 671 FOIA requests pending at the end of 2002). HUD's backlog as a percentage of FOIA requests processed each year has decreased/increased from 51.50% in 1998 to 16.09% in 2002. Its backlog rate per year -- a comparison of the number of requests pending at the end of the year to the number received during that year -- has decreased from 129.58% in 1998 to 20.90% in 2002.
Processing Time - HUD reports that its median days to process have ranged from 22-266 days over the 1998-2002 period. In FY 2002, simple requests have had a median processing time of 15-59 business days; complex requests have had a median processing time of 34-83 business days; and the expedited processing range for 2002 is reported as 5-27 days. HUD did not report a number for the median days that backlogged requests have been pending as of the end of FY 2002; instead it provided medians by components (headquarters, field offices, and Office of Inspector General) and by expedited, simple and complex, and this ranged from 18-68 days.

 

 

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