Your Name

Return Address

Tele. No. (business hours)

Date

Administrator
<Name of government agency>

<Address of government agency>

To the Administrator:

        This is an appeal under the federal Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552. On (date), I made an FOI Act request for (brief description of what you requested). On <date>, your agency denied my request because (state the ground for denial cited by the agency, or that the agency failed to respond within the lawful time limits). Copies of this correspondence are enclosed.

Please be informed that I consider the requested information clearly releasable under the FOI Act and consider your agency's denial to be arbitrary and capricious.

(Here, insert legal and "public policy" arguments in favor of disclosure, if you wish).

I trust that upon reconsideration, you will reverse the decision denying me access to this material and grant my original request. However, if you deny this appeal, I intend to to initiate a lawsuit to compel disclosure.

As I have made this request in the capacity of a <scholar, journalist, researcher, etc.> and this information is of timely value, I will appreciate your expediting the consideration of my appeal in every way possible. In any case, I will expect to receive your decision within 20 business days, as required by law. Thank you for your assistance.

 

Sincerely,

<signature>