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Dealing with both federal and state governments can be a complicated—and sometimes bewildering—process for businesses. Whether navigating the arcane procedures of government contracting or contending with perceived favoritism toward certain vendors, many businesses find themselves in the dark about how contracts are awarded. In today’s highly competitive marketplace, this lack of transparency can leave businesses at a disadvantage, particularly when some organizations appear

When members of the military are the subject  of an investigation by a service‑law‑enforcement agency—such as the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID), the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI), or other DoD entities, even a Command Investigation or Preliminary Inquiry—they may be “titled” and “indexed". This means the mere fact they were the subject of an investigation, regardless of the outcome, can

Marine Corps PERB Many members of the military are familiar with the Boards for Correction of Military Records.  As their names suggest these Boards- BCNR for the Navy and Marine Corps, AFBCMR for the Air Force and Space Force, ABCMR for the Army, and CGBCMR for the Coast Guard, correct military records. Specifically, if an error or injustice is found they can award you backpay, re-enlist you, retire you, give you an award that got downgraded, give you a retirement that you w

The Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act are two of nearly 150 federal statutes that allow for attorney fees to be paid for the Government.  The FOIA and PA allow for an attorney that represents a requester who later sues in Federal Court to recover reasonable attorney fees and costs if they “sustainably prevail" (once the case is filed, the “Complaint", also known as the requester, is now called a “litigant” or a “Plaintiff”). A Plaintiff “sustainably prevails”

Even in the shortest military careers a servicemember accumulates reams of records from their medical care, as do dependents of military members.  Pre-service screenings at MEPs or DODMERB, care at initial training, the countless interactions with military medical providers- whether the informal intake with a medic or Corpsman or extensive impatient care at a military treatment facility, yields massive amounts of information that is often vital to ensuring veterans receive a

Privacy Act and FOIA requests are free.   In its original passing of the PA and FOIA, Congress specifically established that these requests would cost nothing, and through the last fifty years, the free nature of this public service- to let the people know how the Government operates and to give Americans access to their own records- has been continually upheld.  Even more so, the free nature of the FOIA and PA is evident in that if a request ends up reaching litigation in a

Much like the FOIA and PA, every state level jurisdiction in the United States has their own local Freedom of Information statute .  Sometimes called “sunshine laws” or “Freedom of Information Laws” (FOIL) , these local statues are very similar to their federal counterparts.  Both the local and national-level information access laws have similar goals of producing records that a person is subject of and allowing for the public to know how the government operates. State-lev

Privacy Act (General Info) The Federal Government collects massive amounts of data about people living in the United States.  Almost...

Navigating the world of federal employee records can be daunting. Whether you are a journalist, researcher, or simply a curious citizen,...

Accessing military records can be a daunting task, especially if you are unsure where to start. Whether you are researching your family...

Navigating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) can feel like a daunting task. Many people are unaware of their rights to access federal...