Consequences of Missing Response Deadline

If an agency misses its response deadline, either the standard 20-day deadline or an extended deadline, you have the right to administratively appeal this “constructive denial.” In such an appeal, you should attempt to establish that the request (or portions of it) is relatively simple and can be readily processed, and that the delay incurred so far is simply not justified. Provide any information you have that may speed up agency processing.

If the request is time sensitive and you feel you are acting reasonably given the nature and scope of your request, you may consider letting the agency know you are willing to sue if the matter is not resolved in a reasonable amount of time. You should not, however, assert idle litigation threats. You may want to consider speaking with legal counsel before threatening to file a lawsuit.  

Moreover, absent “unusual” or “exceptional” circumstances, if the agency fails to meet its 20-day deadline it cannot assess duplication fees to members of the media.⁹ Exceptional circumstances may be found in situations where a requester unreasonably refused to modify a request or accept an alternative response deadline. They do not include delays resulting from “predictable agency workload of requests” unless an agency can show “reasonable progress in reducing its backlog of pending requests.”¹⁰