How large of a request can I make? Can the government refuse to process my request if it believes it is too burdensome?

Under the federal Freedom of information Act, the guiding principle is one of “reasonableness.”  The federal FOIA requires that a request “reasonably describes” the records sought.  Therefore, it is important to be clear about what records you are seeking and not treat FOIA as a fishing expedition that will require agency personnel to expend an unreasonable amount of time complying with the request. 

Courts have held that extremely broad or voluminous requests are not permissible under the federal FOIA as they lack reasonable specificity.  For example, one court held that a request seeking all documents containing a requester’s name was not a reasonable request. 

There is no bright-line test of “reasonableness” but the more defined and limited a request is, the more likely it will be viewed as reasonable.

Note that a “voluminous” request in terms of, for example, total pages may not necessarily be unreasonable if agency personnel can locate, review and duplicate the records you are seeking relatively quickly.

Also be aware that larger requests can take longer to process and the government can often invoke a right to extend its compliance deadlines in such cases.        

Finally, large or broad requests can often be interpreted as vague or confusing and can be denied on this basis as well.  Remember, the records custodian needs to be able to determine what you are asking for so be as clear and specific as possible.