In some circumstances defined either by the statute or by agency regulations, you are entitled to expedited review of your FOI request.

If you ask for expedited review, an agency must grant or deny you faster processing within 10 calendar days. If the agency grants you expedited review, it will take your request out of order and process it before other requests.

To support your request you should describe the circumstances which you feel make your request eligible for expedited review. You should also “certify” to the agency that the reasons you give for seeking expedited review are true with a declaration such as “I certify that my statements concerning the need for expedited review are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.” The statute allows agencies to require certification, although as a practical matter many agencies have agreed in their FOI regulations to waive this requirement.

An agency will honor a request for expedited review if you have a life-threatening need for the information or delayed disclosure could threaten the physical safety of any individual. It will also grant a request for expedited review if you are a reporter or a person who is otherwise “primarily engaged in disseminating information” and your request concerns a matter of “compelling need.”

The law allows agencies to define other situations in which they will provide expedited review. For example, the Department of Justice’s FOI regulations allow for faster processing if delay could cause a loss of substantial due process rights.

Of more importance to reporters, the Justice Department also provides for expedited review if your request concerns a matter of “widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government’s integrity which affect public confidence.” Requests to the Justice Department for expedited review under this last standard should be directed not to the FOI officer but to the department’s Office of Public Affairs.¹⁵

Next section: You may want to alter your request to put it on a fastest track