Fact Sheets
The State of FOIA 2024
July 20, 2025 / #FOIA, #State, Local, Education (SLED)
SURVEY OVERVIEW
A survey of open government professionals on the current state of FOIA—and their perspectives on how to improve the effectiveness of their agency’s program.
SURVEY FINDINGS
Challenges and priorities facing federal FOIA officers
Most pressing challenges
- Complexity of requests
- Volume of data
- Redactions of sensitive information
80% listed backlog reduction as their number one priority in the next year
38% are satisfied with the resources and processes available to manage workloads
SURVEY DEMOGRAPHICS
Survey respondents spanned federal, state, and local agencies.
27% State or local
73% Federal
Years of experience:
48% 10+ years
23% 5–10 years
21% 2–5 years
2% < 1 year
TECH TOOLS
What tools would be most helpful in your role?
73% Software to help with program administration, approval tracking, and data sharing
60% Technology that helps improve the accuracy and efficiency of redactions across media formats
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
FOIA officers believe AI would be helpful for:
93% Document review, sorting, and deduplication
70% Redacting complex file types
STATE AND LOCAL SNAPSHOT
State and local agencies…
- Are more likely to have smaller teams, with the majority having fewer than 10 people on staff.
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Have more job responsibilities outside open records requests.
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Are less likely to be grappling with backlogs—but consider their biggest need to be automating more manual tasks.
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Report their biggest obstacles to implementing technology budget restraints and uncertainty about compatibility with existing programs.
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These officers were most interested in software that can easily generate reports.
ABOUT OPEXUS
Our team of passionate government insiders design, develop, and deliver government process management software to get the professionals who run democracies unstuck. This way, the operators and change makers who keep government running can worry less about their systems, and more about making a positive impact on society and leaving a legacy.
www.opexustech.com
