By Lauren FitzPatrick
GateHouse News Service

But when it comes to deadlines for Freedom of Information Act requests, the tax agency isn't nearly so demanding of itself.

"I apologize for any inconvenience my delay may cause," wrote the tax agency, as it explained why it would blow the 20-day deadline on a GateHouse FOIA letter for logs of its public records requests. And if you don't like it: "You may file suit."

So IRS FOIA requests in the last calendar year will remain a mystery until at least May 9.

GateHouse News Service filed FOIA requests with 100 federal and state entities, asking for logs of everyone who sought public records in the last year, as part of an investigation to see how open records laws play out in practice.

The GHNS audit shows that although the burden is on the government to provide information or prove why it can't in a timely manner, the little guy's typically the one who has to stay on top of the public records game. And even then, there are no guarantees.

Open access to, say, the IRS records may seem petty, but it's not, said an advocate for free access to government. Any hurdles to public records hurt democracy.

"In a representative democracy, it's our responsibility to monitor our government," said Charles N. Davis, who heads the National Freedom of Information Center in Missouri.

"We elect people to represent us, and at that point, the job doesn't end. I am amazed and saddened and shocked by arguments that we ought to just leave government alone and trust them to do the job."

If citizens can't get at their elected officials and tax-funded bureaucracies, Davis said, "what you get is an emboldened government that feels like it can get away with just about anything."

Freedom of Information Act requests allow anyone who can write a letter to learn what the government does with tax dollars. State and federal FOIA laws spell out the steps the government must follow to provide public records; most federal agencies even have a FOIA officer on staff to process requests. And all FOIA letters become public records once the agency receives them.

So GateHouse News Service sent Freedom of Information requests to 50 federal agencies on Feb. 12, and attorneys general in 49 states plus the District of Columbia on Feb. 18, asking each office to produce its logs of FOIA requests from the most recent 12 months available. GateHouse asked for the requester's name, address, records sought, and whether the request was fulfilled or why records were denied.

State responses proved as capricious as their laws, offering different time limits, fee structures and enforcement processes. Florida, for example, spells out specific details about fees and appeals processes; other states, such as South Dakota, are nebulous and leave a requester at the mercy of the responding office.

Some responding states, such as Massachusetts, interpreted the request literally, and denied the request if a list or database did not already exist. They cited a common provision that FOIA doesn't require the creation of new records.

Others, such as Arkansas, Maine and North Carolina, denied the request for a list, saying one didn't exist. But in the spirit of the law, they sent copies of letters the office sent as responses to FOIA requests.

Seven flat out ignored the request, including Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi (whose request was made through the attorney general's Web site, as requested on the site) and Connecticut.

Of those that responded, 19 states provided the records, and 10 still were pending as of March 13. Ten denied records, and requests in five states were withdrawn for cost. Nebraska provided the records requested.

When prompted for copies of a year's worth of request letters and responses, Massachusetts proved the most expensive state, estimating the cost to comply at a "few thousand dollars," said Emily LaGrassa, a spokeswoman for the office.

West Virginia came in second, at $668.52 for reviewing files and making copies, and asked for a cleared check before beginning the work. Nebraska mailed out an envelope of copies along with a $22 price tag.

Several state laws permit reasonable reproduction fees; some allow fees for searching, too.

But Arkansas mailed a fat packet of letters for free. Utah e-mailed dozens of copies of requests and responses. California mailed two CDs containing more than 2,100 scans of the letters at no cost.

"The practical reality of FOIA is, it's not easy," said Jay Stewart of the Better Government Association, which sends out a regular stream of FOIA requests. "You get a better reaction when you're formally affiliated with a powerful institution, a.k.a. the media. John Q. Public what's the threat there?"

Federal results were no better, despite a law governing federal agencies that's uniform and clear. Most have a fee structure that waives small amounts under $10 or $25 in copying charges. According to the federal Freedom of Information Act, federal agencies have 20 business days to respond to a written request, either by producing the records or by explaining why they need a 10-day extension.

But of the 50 agencies petitioned on Feb. 12, 36 responded. Eighteen sent records by the deadline; another 18 acknowledged receipt and began processing or negotiating. Only one the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission denied the request outright, citing privacy concerns.

Eleven agencies did not reply in any way by the 20th day.

To their credit, none of the federal agencies contacted charged for the records they produced, including the Small Business Administration, which sent a 159-page fax, the Federal Aviation Administration, which mailed a 349-page packet of records, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which mailed 120 pages.

But with agencies like the IRS, there's nothing for the average citizen to do but wait for a response to a FOIA request.

Filing suit the most prevalent way of disputing a request is rarely an option because lawsuits are expensive.

"The public officials know it," Stewart said. "They simply know regardless of who's sending the FOIA, they're very unlikely to actually sue about it."

Perhaps changes to the federal Freedom of Information Act will help. Signed into law by President Bush on Dec. 31, 2007, the Open Government Act of 2007 creates a federal ombudsman in an Office of Government Information Services to mediate disputes between individuals and agencies.

"The best thing is the emphasis the amendments put on cleaning up and speeding up the process," said Davis, who fields calls from citizens frustrated with their lack of results from a FOIA. "If there's anything really fatally wrong with FOIA these days, it's that it's so gummed up."

The new open government law also allows attorney fees to be paid by a FOIA lawsuit's loser to the winner, and opens up federal records held or stored by private companies. If an agency blows the 20-day response deadline, the records become fee-free, Davis said.

However, Davis said, none of the exemptions to what constitutes public records was addressed, either. The privacy exemption, for example, has been bandied about too liberally, Davis said by agencies claiming fears about identity theft.

And the budget proposed by the president hasn't yet offered any funding. Bush also proposed moving the ombudsman from the independent National Archives and Records Administration to the Department of Justice a suggestion met by a storm of criticism and public outrage.

Those outcries were heartening, Davis said, because citizens need transparent, responsive government.

"There is a tremendous, underappreciated role that access plays in just day-to-day," he said. "It matters because everybody eventually is going to need information from their government to run their own life."

GateHouse News Service national reporter Lauren FitzPatrick can be reached at lfitzpatrick@gatehousemedia.com. Davis welcomes calls from citizens who need help with FOIA requests. Call the National Freedom of Information Center [http://www.nfoic.org/foi-center] at (573) 882-5736.