Back to Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) Requests
Within five business days of the receipt of a written request for a record reasonably described, we will send you a letter either: making such record available; denying such request in writing; or furnishing a written acknowledgment of the receipt of such request. If you have not received a letter within five business days, please contact us at (518) 485-2191 or [email protected].
An acknowledgment letter will provide you with an estimate of when the records you request will be available, which shall be reasonable under the circumstances of the request. This date is determined by the number of documents you request, their format, their availability, the time it takes to redact any information that cannot be disclosed pursuant to FOIL, the time it takes to assemble the documents, and other factors.
If the records you request require a fee to be paid, you will be notified prior to the records being released to you. Unless a different fee is otherwise prescribed by statute, Public Officers Law § 87(1) authorizes an agency to charge a fee of 25¢ per copy for copies of records up 9” x 14”, or the actual cost of reproducing a record. In determining the actual cost of producing a record, an agency may include only:
- an amount equal to the hourly salary attributed to the lowest paid agency employee who has the necessary skill required to prepare the requested record(s), if at least two hours of agency employee time is needed to prepare a copy of the record(s) requested;
- the actual cost of the storage devices or media provided to the person making the request in complying with such request; and
- the actual cost to the agency of engaging an outside professional service to prepare a copy of a record, but only when an agency's information technology equipment is inadequate to prepare a copy, if such service is used to prepare the copy.
Once the requested records are prepared, you may receive the records via email, fax, paper, CD/DVD, or USB. You must call Counsel’s office at (518) 485-2191 in advance to advise the Records Access Officer you would like to inspect the records and to set up a date for inspection. Appointments for inspection must be scheduled Monday through Friday (excluding State holidays) between the hours of 9:00 am to 3:45 pm.