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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 EDUCATION (EDU)
7 DAYS TO RESPOND TO ARCHIVE; NO OLD REQUESTS REPORTED

Ten Oldest - EDU responded within seven business days stating that it has no pending FOIA requests.
Workload Statistics - EDU's reported statistics from 1998 through 2002 indicate that the agency has received a relatively stable number of FOIA requests (up 1% from 1721 in 1998 to 1744 in 2002). The number processed each year has increased (up 2.3% from 1679 processed in 1998 to 1718 processed in 2002). EDU's processing rate per year -- a comparison of the number of requests processed to the number received -- increased from 97.56% in 1998 to 98.51% in 2002.
Backlog Statistics - EDU's backlog of pending FOIA requests has increased (from 137 FOIA requests pending at the end of 1998 to 219 FOIA requests pending at the end of 2002). EDU's backlog as a percentage of FOIA requests processed each year has increased from 8.16% in 1998 to 12.75% 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 20.10% in 1998 to 12.56% in 2002.
Processing Time - Under its two track system, EDU reports a median processing time in 2002 for simple requests of 5-35 days, while complex requests in 2002 have ranged from a median of 7-180 days. Expedited requests have a median processing time range of 1-29 days over the 1998-2002 time period. The median days that backlogged requests have been pending is reported as 5-211 for 2002.

 

TEN OLDEST REQUESTS

EDU Response Letter

 

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