FOIA Response Deadlinesby State

Every state gives the public a right to government records. Almost every state also puts a clock on the agency that holds them. Some allow three days. Others allow thirty. Several set no number at all and require a prompt answer instead. Whatever the rule, the clock starts when the request arrives, and the work behind a large request can easily run past it.

The table below lists the response deadline in all 50 states and under the federal Freedom of Information Act. It also shows the extension each law allows and the statute to check. Use it as a starting point when comparing jurisdictions or planning how your office handles requests.

Response deadlines in all 50 states

How to read the deadlines

The first deadline is not the last. In some states the first deadline is for an initial answer. New York, Washington, Oregon, and Maine require a response within five business or working days, then the records on a date the agency commits to. California and federal FOIA require a decision on what will be released, and the records are still owed after that. Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Vermont expect the agency to comply or deny within the window itself.

Business days and calendar days. A five business day deadline is one working week. New Mexico's fifteen days and Maryland's thirty days run on the calendar, weekends included. Holidays usually do not count toward business day deadlines.

Promptly still means fast. Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin use words like promptly or without delay. That is not open ended. Florida courts allow only the delay reasonably needed to find, review, and redact the records. In North Dakota, unreasonable delay violates the statute.

What happens when an agency misses it

In many states, silence past the deadline counts as a denial. That is the rule in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Vermont, among others. The requester can then appeal or go to court right away.

Some states add a price. In Illinois, a public body that misses the deadline cannot charge for copies. It also cannot treat the request as unduly burdensome. Under federal FOIA, a late agency generally cannot charge search fees.

Meeting the deadline on large requests

Short deadlines are manageable for a single incident report. They are much harder for a year of email or a set of body camera videos. The time goes into reading every page and deciding what each law protects. That work does not shrink when the deadline does, so the largest requests are the ones most likely to need extensions.

GovGuard tracks the statutory clock on every request and does the reading behind it. AI agents go through every page and flag what the law allows the agency to withhold, with the section cited. Staff review a finished first pass instead of starting from scratch. See how GovGuard cuts review time, or read our guide to Illinois FOIA exemptions.

This table summarizes each statute as of September 2026 and is not legal advice. Deadlines can differ for commercial or voluminous requests and for specific record types. Check the current law and consult your agency's attorney.