New York S 4632: Clarifies the amount of time an agency has to respond to a request under the freedom of information law

Bill Text

Bill Search and Legislative Information | New York State Assembly 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Skip to main content 

 New York State Assembly

 Speaker Carl E. Heastie

 --> 
 --> 

 --> 

• 
 Assembly Members 

• 
 Legislative Info 

• 
 Public Hearings 

• 
 Speaker's Press 

• 
 Assembly Reports 

• 
 Committees & More 

• Bill Search Home
• Laws
• Legislative Calendar
• Public Hearing Schedule
• Assembly Calendars
• Assembly Committee Agenda 

 Javascript must be enabled to properly view this page. 

 Bill No.: 

• Summary 
• Actions 
• Committee&nbspVotes 
• Floor&nbspVotes 
• Memo 
• Text 
• LFIN 
• Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript 
S04632 Summary:

BILL NOS04632 

&nbsp

SAME ASNo Same As

&nbsp

SPONSORWEIK

&nbsp

COSPNSR

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Amd §89, Pub Off L

&nbsp

Provides that any entity subject to the provisions of article six of the public officers law which does not grant or deny a request for a record within twenty-five days of such request shall be deemed to have denied the request for such record; makes related provisions.

Go to top S04632 Actions:

BILL NOS04632 

&nbsp

02/10/2025REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

01/07/2026REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

Go to topS04632 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS04632 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS04632 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 4632

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 February 10, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sen. WEIK -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
 ment Operations

 AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to clarifying the
 amount of time an agency has to respond to a request under the freedom
 of information law

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 89 of the public
 2 officers law, as amended by chapter 223 of the laws of 2008, is amended
 3 to read as follows:
 4 (a) Each entity subject to the provisions of this article, within five
 5 business days of the receipt of a written request for a record reason-
 6 ably described, shall make such record available to the person request-
 7 ing it, deny such request in writing or furnish a written acknowledge-
 8 ment of the receipt of such request and a statement of the [approximate]
 9 date, which shall be [reasonable under the circumstances of the request]
 10 no longer than twenty days, when such request will be granted or denied,
 11 including, where appropriate, a statement that access to the record will
 12 be determined in accordance with subdivision five of this section. Any
 13 entity subject to the provisions of this article which does not grant or
 14 deny a request for a record within twenty-five days of such request
 15 shall be deemed to have denied the request for such record. Any entity
 16 subject to the provisions of this article which grants any request for a
 17 record within twenty-five days of such request, but fails to provide
 18 such records within forty days of such request, shall be deemed to have
 19 denied the request for such record. An agency shall not deny a request
 20 on the basis that the request is voluminous or that locating or review-
 21 ing the requested records or providing the requested copies is burden-
 22 some because the agency lacks sufficient staffing or on any other basis
 23 if the agency may engage an outside professional service to provide

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD08864-01-5

 S. 4632 2

 1 copying, programming or other services required to provide the copy, the
 2 costs of which the agency may recover pursuant to paragraph (c) of
 3 subdivision one of section eighty-seven of this article. An agency may
 4 require a person requesting lists of names and addresses to provide a
 5 written certification that such person will not use such lists of names
 6 and addresses for solicitation or fund-raising purposes and will not
 7 sell, give or otherwise make available such lists of names and addresses
 8 to any other person for the purpose of allowing that person to use such
 9 lists of names and addresses for solicitation or fund-raising purposes.
 10 If an agency determines to grant a request in whole or in part, and if
 11 circumstances prevent disclosure to the person requesting the record or
 12 records within twenty business days from the date of the acknowledgement
 13 of the receipt of the request, the agency shall state, in writing, both
 14 the reason for the inability to grant the request within twenty business
 15 days and a date certain within a reasonable period, depending on the
 16 circumstances, when the request will be granted in who