FOIA Letter to Ms. Cindy Wilton Concerning the Department of Agriculture

Petitioner alleged emails requested were being witheld by the Department of Agriculture on the pretext that the agency could only search for what was held by the Department of Technology and Information. HELD: The Department of Agriculture was found to have violated FOIA by not searching for emails outside the scope of DTI’s capacities. A public body is obligated to search for other emails they have possibly retained even if the emails are beyond the timeframe of what DTI retains. However, it did not violate FOIA by asking DTI to perform the search for whatever emails were in DTI’s possession nor for charging the costs to perform the search in advance

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