Resolving Disputes
GIS’s mediation services to resolve Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disputes, as mandated by Congress, comprised the bulk of OGIS’s work in FY 2013, as in the previous three years. Requests for assistance awaited Director Nisbet when she opened the Office, and early on, OGIS decided that demand for mediation services dictated that the Office commit to assisting anyone asking for help with FOIA. From the start, OGIS has
served as a confidential and
informal information resource, communications channel, complaint handler, and dispute resolver. OGIS strives to be an advocate not for the requester or the agency, but for an effective FOIA process that works as ; a intended. ‘
In its first three years, OGIS handled an average of roughly 350 cases a year. The number
of requesters seeking OGIS
OGIS’s caseload soared above 500 for the first time in FY 2013. (NARA Identifier 6443896)
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