Stafford Town Hall “Inundated” with FOIA Requests

Stafford is seeing a rise in the number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests it receives, according to First Selectman Bill Morrison. Stafford isn’t alone, and the phenomenon isn’t entirely new. “Agencies received a record 1.5 million Freedom of Information Act requests in fiscal 2024. That’s according to the Justice Department Office of Information Policy’s latest summary of federal FOIA data,” according to the Federal News Network. Keep in mind that’s just at the Federal level.

At the February 4, 2026, Board of Selectmen meeting, Morrison described Town Hall as being “inundated” with FOIA requests, though he did not specify a number. From his description, it sounds as if the requests are often far-reaching and pretty non-specific. He suggested that it was often hard to understand what people were looking for and that if they came to his office, described the information they were seeking, and what they hoped to learn, staff might be able to fulfill their requests more efficiently.

“The increasing complexity of Freedom of Information Act requests, shortages of employees to handle such requests and lack of communication between agencies when requests cross agency lines all have contributed to the growing backlog of FOIA requests in recent years,” according to FEDweek. It seems that Stafford isn’t immune to the trends being seen at much higher levels. Morrison described the new influx of requests as “time-consuming and costly,” saying they can sometimes take days to fulfill. Selectman Tim Cromwell described information seekers who file new requests as soon as they receive answers to their first inquiries. 

Morrison said that in discussions with other towns, he has found that the increase in FOIA requests is the norm. The data seems to confirm that even in much larger municipalities, in completely different parts of the country, they are seeing a similar increase in requests. The Lansing City Pulses reported at the end of 2025: “[Chief Deputy Clerk Sarah Alanis] said she’s seen an increase in requests over the last few years. In 2023, she received 640 requests, 740 in 2024, and 860 requests so far in 2025.”