FAQs

What is the appeal process for a denied request?

The FOIL provides a process to appeal the denial of a request. Any person denied access to a record may within thirty days appeal in writing to the Chairman of the Ontario County Board of Supervisors. If the agency denies or does not determine the appeal within 10 days, you may initiate further judicial proceedings to challenge the denial of access.

Are there fees for my FOIL request?

Under FOIL (Public Officers Law §87[1] [b] [iii]) there is a permitted fee of $0.25 per page for duplication of records. There is no provision in law or regulation for waiver of this fee. Payment should not be submitted until you are notified that your request is granted and informed of the charge for your request. Copies of records must be made available on request. Except when a different fee is prescribed by statute, an agency may not charge for inspection, certification or search for records, or charge in excess of 25 cents per photocopy up to 9 by 14 inches (section 87(1) (b) (iii)). Fees for copies of other records may be charged based upon the actual cost of reproduction.

My request was submitted under an email I don’t have access to, what should I do?

Common cases where this happens are when there was a typo in the email address, the request was submitted by an employee who has since left the organization, or the request was submitted by an assistant on behalf of their boss.

If this has happened you will need to reach out directly to the agency. They will be able to update the email address on the request. In general, agencies will list a contact number or email address either on the front page, make request page, or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page of the portal. You can also search on the agency's website directly as the point of contact for public records requests is typically listed there as well. Agency admins can update the request to a different requester or update the email address for the request.

I didn't receive the account confirmation email, what do I do?

The first thing to do is check that you submitted your email on the required page. The password reset process requires you to enter your email address twice - once to confirm that you have an account in the system, and then again to actually request the password reset email. Double-check that you have entered your email address into both pages.

If you have entered your email address on both pages and still haven’t received an email the next step is to check your spam or junk folder. If the email isn’t there, then email NextRequest Support and we can send you the reset link by a different method.