Bay EvidenceInvestigative research · Bay Area public systemsThe agency says the request is overbroad.
Ask which terms, custodians, systems, or periods create the burden; propose prioritized categories and rolling production without surrendering the original date.
Citizens Transparency Institute
Find the record. Test the claim. Know what is held about you.
Public beta · Reviewed 15 Aug 2026Open Records Workbench
Request records that can actually be found, reviewed, and challenged.
A complete method for identifying the custodian, describing existing records, controlling format and cost, tracking the response, and escalating an inadequate search or withholding.
CTI public guideReviewed 15 Aug 2026Browser-local tools
Use this when
- The answer should exist in an agency record, dataset, message, contract, policy, log, calendar, audit, complaint, or recording.
- You can identify a government body or contractor likely to possess the record.
- You need a durable source rather than an informal explanation.
Do not use this for
- Questions asking an agency to create an analysis or explain its motives.
- Emergency service, discovery in active litigation, or records governed by a different access statute.
- Requests for private records that the government does not possess.
Before you begin
Prepare the file before you search.
- A one-sentence research question
- Correct agency and likely custodian
- Record types and systems
- Narrow date range
- Names, identifiers, addresses, contract numbers, or search terms
- Preferred native format
- Delivery proof and response log
End-to-end method
- 01
Define the record-producing question
Translate the issue into existing artifacts. Instead of asking why a program failed, request the relevant contracts, performance reports, invoices, correspondence, complaint logs, and audits.
- 02
Choose the governing route
Use federal FOIA for federal executive-branch agencies; California CPRA for California state and local bodies; check special statutes for courts, police records, education, health, or your own records.
Decision point: If the custodian is unclear, search staff directories, retention schedules, prior-request logs, meeting packets, and data dictionaries before submitting.
- 03
Describe identifiable records
Name record type, custodian or office, system, subject, date range, identifiers, and search terms. Prefer bounded categories to ‘all records relating to.’
- 04
Control production
Ask for native electronic files and nonexempt metadata, rolling production, searchable text, a fee estimate before charges, and release of reasonably segregable portions.
- 05
Log the procedural record
Preserve submission, acknowledgment, determination, extension, fee communication, production, redaction code, appeal, and every promised date.
- 06
Audit the search and production
Compare response dates, custodians, systems, attachments, page ranges, redaction consistency, missing intervals, and referenced-but-unproduced records.
- 07
Escalate precisely
Seek clarification, a supplemental search, exemption-by-exemption explanation, segregable portions, administrative appeal, OGIS mediation for federal matters, or qualified counsel where stakes justify it.
Browser-local builder
Draft the request
Nothing entered here is sent to CTI or stored by the site. Review the draft, agency rules, and current law before submission.
Subject: Request for public records — [record description] To: [agency / records custodian] Pursuant to the California Public Records Act, Government Code section 7920.000 et seq., I request electronic copies of the following existing records: [Identify record types, custodians, systems, subjects, identifiers, and search terms] Date range: [start date] through [end date]. Please search the offices, custodians, accounts, and record systems reasonably likely to contain responsive material. Produce records in their native electronic format when available, with nonexempt metadata, and use rolling production if the volume is substantial. If any portion is withheld, release all reasonably segregable nonexempt material and identify the specific legal basis for each withholding or redaction. If no records are found, please describe the locations and methods searched. Notify me before incurring any charge. Please preserve potentially responsive records while this request and any administrative review remain pending. Sincerely, [Name] [Email or mailing address]
Working file
Take the method into your own case.
Generated locally in your browser. CTI does not receive the file.
Evidence standard
What good evidence looks like
- The agency’s dated correspondence and submission receipt
- Native files retaining useful metadata
- A complete production index with Bates or stable filenames
- Specific exemption citations tied to withheld categories
- A described search covering reasonable custodians and systems
- A ledger separating received, withheld, missing, disputed, and pending records
Failure modes & escalation
No response by the statutory determination period.
Send a dated follow-up citing the request and receipt. CPRA generally requires an initial determination within 10 calendar days, with a written extension up to 14 days for defined unusual circumstances. Federal FOIA generally provides 20 working days for a determination. Neither is necessarily the final production date.
Records are heavily redacted or categorically withheld.
Request the precise legal basis, segregable nonexempt portions, the foreseeable-harm explanation where applicable, and an index or description adequate to evaluate the withholding.
The agency reports no responsive records.
Ask which custodians, accounts, systems, search terms, archives, and date fields were searched; compare that answer with retention schedules and references in other records.
Worked patterns
Contracts
Executed agreement, solicitation, proposal, scoring sheets, amendments, invoices, payment ledger, deliverables, monitoring reports, cure notices, and closeout records for contract [number], [date range].
Messages and attachments sent or received by [named custodians] containing [bounded terms] between [dates], including archived and deleted items retained by the agency.
Dataset
Export the named system table or report in CSV/XLSX with data dictionary, field definitions, code values, refresh date, suppressed-field explanation, and nonexempt metadata.
Authority desk
Official sources and specialist guides
Authority labels distinguish government sources from independent guidance. Links were reviewed 15 Aug 2026; procedures and law can change.
FOIA.gov
Official · U.S. Department of Justice
Federal agency finder, request basics, data, and agency FOIA contact points.
California DOJ Public Records guidance
Official · California Department of Justice
California Public Records Act overview and state DOJ request information.
Office of Government Information Services
Official · National Archives
Federal FOIA ombuds and nonbinding dispute-resolution services.
Reporters Committee Open Government Guide
Secondary legal guide · RCFP
State-by-state open-records and open-meetings research; verify current law and obtain counsel when needed.
MuckRock FOIA resources
Secondary practical resource · MuckRock
Request examples, agency records, and filing support; not an official legal authority.