The agency has told me that it cannot find any records responsive to my request, can I sue?
A. Yes, but be careful. The Act allows for you to appeal both administratively, and in court, a denial of access to information which is wrongfully withheld. However, if the records do not exist, the agency cannot produce them for you. If you have an “inside source” who can confirm for you that the records do in fact exist-and you have some sort of proof which you can introduce into evidence in court-you should consider litigation. However, absent such documentation, you will have a very difficult time proving your case in court. As an alternative, consider asking a different agency (or different branch of the same agency) which may have a copy of the information you seek. Q.
Related Questions
- I cannot afford to pay the fees charged by the agency or official to research my request or copy the records. Can I get a waiver?
- The agency has told me that it cannot find any records responsive to my request, can I sue?
- How do executive agencies request to transfer records to another executive agency?
