OPEN Government Act of 2007

E46538

The OPEN Government Act of 2007 is a U.S. federal law that strengthened and modernized the Freedom of Information Act by improving transparency, clarifying response deadlines, and enhancing the rights and remedies available to requesters.


Statements (45)
Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute
freedom of information law amendment
addresses FOIA attorney fees standards
affects federal executive branch agencies
amends Freedom of Information Act
appliesTo Freedom of Information Act
clarifies FOIA applies to agency records maintained for an agency by a contractor
FOIA response time is tolled only in limited circumstances
FOIA response time starts when a request is received by the appropriate component
standard for awarding attorney fees to prevailing FOIA plaintiffs
codifiedIn Title 5 of the United States Code
country United States of America
defines news media requester more broadly for FOIA fee purposes
designates Office of Government Information Services as FOIA ombudsman
effectiveOn 2008-01-01
enactedBy United States Congress
enhances judicial review remedies for FOIA requesters
public access to government information
establishes FOIA ombudsman function within the National Archives and Records Administration
Office of Government Information Services
improves FOIA processing and tracking mechanisms
legislativeBody United States House of Representatives
United States Senate
prohibits agencies from outsourcing FOIA responsibilities to private contractors in ways that evade FOIA
publicLawNumber Public Law 110-175
purpose to clarify FOIA response deadlines
to enhance rights and remedies for FOIA requesters
to improve government transparency
to strengthen and modernize the Freedom of Information Act
requires agencies to assign tracking numbers to certain FOIA requests
agencies to provide a telephone line or Internet service to check FOIA request status
agencies to report more detailed FOIA statistics
annual FOIA reports with additional data elements
restricts agencies’ ability to charge certain FOIA fees when deadlines are not met
shortName OPEN Government Act
signedBy George W. Bush
signingDate 2007-12-31
sponsoredBy John Cornyn
Patrick Leahy
strengthens enforcement of FOIA deadlines
subjectMatter access to government records
administrative law
government transparency
title Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007
yearOfEnactment 2007

Referenced by (6)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
OGIS
Office of Government Information Services ("Open Government Act of 2007")
legalBasis
Freedom of Information Act
amendedBy
110th United States Congress ("Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007")
passedAct
OPEN Government Act of 2007 ("OPEN Government Act")
shortName
OPEN Government Act of 2007 ("Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007")
title

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