Service and Answers


 * This article is part of a series on Litigation

Introduction
After a complaint is filed in a federal district court, it and other material are required to be served on the government. The date of the government's answer to a FOIA complaint is based off of the date service is completed.

Summons
Under FOIA (5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(C)), a plaintiff is entitled to a summons requiring the government's response within 30 days, rather than the usual 60 days (for the government). In practice, this may be challenging to obtain outside the District of Columbia and other districts that do high-volumes of FOIA litigation. The standard AO440 form does not allow for the possibility of a 30-day answer deadline.

D.D.C. has their own modified FOIA version.

Further, some districts generate summonses from CMECF without requiring the submission of summons blanks, which may complicate getting a 30-day summons.

Service
Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a FOIA plaintiff must serve the complaint and a summons signed and stamped by the court clerk on several entities. In most cases, this means the plaintiff must:
 * 1) Send a copy of the complaint and the relevant signed and stamped summons by registered or certified mail to the civil-process clerk at the United States attorney's office;
 * 2) Send a copy of the complaint and the relevant signed and stamped summons by registered or certified mail to the Attorney General of the United States at Washington, D.C.; and
 * 3) Send a copy of the complaint and the relevant signed and stamped summons by registered or certified mail to the agency.

U.S. Attorney General
The U.S. Attorney General is located at:

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530

U.S. Attorney for DC
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia is located at:

555 Fourth Street, NW

Washington, DC 20530 (for mail delivery)

Answer
A defendant agency must file an answer within 30 days of service.