2018 sees record number of FOIA requests, information seekers change

By Amelia Brust, Fed. News Network, June 7, 2019

The Justice Department’s prophecy that fiscal 2018 would be a record year for Freedom of Information Act requests came true. But as the number of requests continues to rise, the make-up of people submitting most of them has shifted.

Journalists are now the second-most common requesters of government records; the majority are now people seeking information on themselves.

In FY 2018 federal agencies received 5.6% more requests, or an increase of 45,458, than in FY 2017, for a total of 863,729 requests. Collectively, agencies also processed 0.85% more requests, or 830,060 total, in FY 2018 versus the previous year, according to DOJ’s annual report released Thursday.

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