Last date modified: 2026-Jul-13

Intake

Once a FOIA request is received, the Intake step begins. During this phase, the agency reviews the request and decides whether it passes FOIA submission policies (perfection). The agency assigns a category to further define the request and provides a first response to the request submitter. If applicable, fees are also collected during this phase.

Intake details for the coordinator

Click the Intake step in the workflow panel to open its details.

Navigation points on the request details screen.

Noteworthy navigational points:

A. Workflow steps—the RelativityOne FOIA workflow consists of four steps: Intake, Search, Review, and Response. As you complete the tasks for a step, the workflow automatically advances you to the next. You can also click from one step to another to view details.

B. Navigation buttons—navigate to the last screen, previous record, or next record.

C. Activity—opens the Activity History panel. The panel displays a list of activities for the request.

The icons appearing in the Activity History pane.

Options include:

1. Log Communication—manually log activity for the request. For example, you might log an email you received outside of the FOIA environment that is relevant to the request. Fields include:

  • Communication Type—select the type of communication from the drop-down menu.
  • Contact—enter a contact name.
  • Subject/Title—enter a subject or title.
  • Details—describe the communication.

2. Add Notes—add comments, questions, and notes.

3. Export CSV—export the activity list in CSV format.

4. Filters—search or filter the activity list.

D. Quick Actions—quick access to:

  • Time Management
    • Extension—opens a template for extending the processing due date. Extensions can only be taken on perfected requests. Select one or more circumstances for the extension, then select the type, or number of days to extend the processing.
    • Toll Clock—opens a modal to enter a justification for changing the clock.
  • Email Requester—opens an email template you can use to contact the requester.

E. Progress bar—indicates the status of workflow sub-steps. A green circle indicates the sub-step is complete for the workflow step. This may be because the request did not warrant further review, such as not requesting a fee waiver, or the agency reviewer completed all of the tasks within the sub-step. A blue circle indicates the task is partially completed.

F. Request details—the request details including requester input, attachments, and reviewer actions.

G. Request description—contains the original request description, along with an AI-generated case summary. You can edit the case summary to add your own narrative or additional notes.

H. Attachments—lists attachments provided throughout the workflow.

As an intake coordinator, you start the FOIA workflow by evaluating the public request and then determining if it meets all agency requirements. After you confirm agency requirements, you mark the request as perfected, and FOIA routes it to the next workflow step.

The FOIA request details screen show status and priority.

Intake sub-steps

There are two sub-steps for Intake: Evaluation and Acknowledgement.

Evaluation

Click Evaluation to get started. The Evaluation modal opens.

Fee Category Decision

The requester assigned a fee category to their request. Their options were:

  • Commercial
  • Educational or scientific
  • Media
  • Other

During evaluation, you can agree or disagree with the requester's selection. If you disagree, you must reassign the category to one of the remaining options.

Fee category screen where you can confirm or assign a fee category.

Steps:

  1. Select either Agree or Disagree.
  2. If you select Disagree, select a new Fee Category.
  3. Use the Notes on Decision box to add any comments for future reference.
Fee Waiver Decision

If the requester asked for a fee waiver, review their justification, then either grant, moot, or deny the waiver.

Fee Waiver screen where you can grant or deny waiver requests.

Steps:

  1. Click Grant, Moot, or Deny for your decision. A moot decision means the fee waiver does not apply to the request.
  2. Use the Notes on Decision box to add any comments for future reference.

Expedited Processing Decision

If the requester asked for expedited processing, review their justification, then either grant, moot, or deny the expedited processing request.

Request expedited processing and provide a justification.

Steps:

  1. Click Grant, Moot, or Deny for your decision. A moot decision means expedited processing does not apply to the request.
  2. Use the Notes on Decision box to add any comments for future reference.

Processing Track Assignment

Track assignment is the expected effort and urgency required to complete the request.

Processing track assignment screen where you can mark the request simple, complex, or expedited.

Steps:

  1. Select a Processing Track option.
    • Simple—minimal effort; small amount of records.
    • Complex—requires significant time or resources to complete the request. Complex requests generally consist of a larger number of records, multiple offices, sensitive data, or urgent public interest.
    • Expedited—takes priority over other requests. There must be a compelling need for expedited requests.
  2. Use the Notes on Decision box to add any comments for future reference.

First Party Request

You can change the requester's first party request entry. If marked yes, the requester is the individual named in the records or is authorized to represent the individual named in the records.

First Party screen that declares if the request is by the first party.

Steps:

  1. Select Yes or No for Is this a First Party Request?
  2. Use the Notes on Decision box to add any comments for future reference.

Assigned Component

In this section, you assign the request to the appropriate office, group, or person responsible for reviewing or processing the request.

Assigned component. Select a component from the drop-down menu options.

Steps:

1. Select a Component from the drop-down menu.

Search Action Office

In this section, you assign the request to the appropriate office responsible for search actions.

The assignment screen is where you assign the request to another office or user.

Steps:

  1. Select an office and user from the drop-down menus to assign the search actions.
    • Office—select an office from the drop-down menu.
    • User (Optional)—select a user from the drop-down menu. Users are filtered based on the office you select.

Save your entries

Now that you have completed the evaluation steps, select Save at the bottom of the modal to commit your responses and return to the Intake screen.

Notice that the progress steps for Evaluation and Search Action Office are now green, indicating you have successfully completed the two sections.

The progress buttons on the intake screen turn green when you have successfully completed the steps.

Now, you will address the remaining two progress steps, Acknowledgement and Perfection. You will start with Perfection to make sure you've met all of the agency requirements for a FOIA submittal.

Perfection

Perfection means all of the components of the request have been met according to policy and the request can be routed to the office responsible for researching documents.

The confirm perfection screen is where you declare if the request is perfected or not perfected.

Click the Perfection step to get started. The Confirm Perfection modal opens.

Steps:

  1. Is the request reasonably described?—Select Yes or No. You must enter a reason if you select No. You cannot perfect the request if you select No.
  2. Is the request made in accordance with the Agency's regulations?—Select Yes or No. You must enter a reason if you select No. You cannot perfect the request if you select No.
  3. If you answered yes to both questions, click Confirm Perfection to open the Acknowledgement Letter - Processing template. See the next section for instructions on using this template.
  4. If you answered no to either question, click Not Perfected to open the Acknowledgement Letter - Additional Information Required template. See Additional Information Required for instructions on using this template.

Acknowledgement (Acknowledgement Letter - Processing template)

Use this email template to customize a response to the requester, letting them know their request is being processed.

The template contains prompts that you can use to customize your email, along with merged fields that pull data directly from the existing record. You can use the template as is or edit it to suit your specific need.

You can edit email templates to customize them for your agency. See Letter Template Management for details.

  • <***ABC***>—indicates data that you must provide. Replace the prompt with content specific to your request.
  • [ABC]—indicates merged content that is pulled directly from the preexisting record. Relativity will populate these prompts for you.

The email template for informing the requester their submittal is perfected and now ready for processing.

Click the Acknowledgement step to get started. The Acknowledgement Letter - Processing modal opens.

Steps:

  1. Complete the following fields:
    • To—Relativity auto-populates this field for you. You can add additional email addresses as well.
    • CC—the email addresses of any other users receiving a copy of the email.
    • Email Template—Relativity provides a default template that includes merged fields, or fields that are populated with details from the original request. Merged fields are contained in brackets with the field name. For example [ASSIGNED_TO]. You can also change the email template to another Relativity-provided template, or a custom template if your Relativity administrator created one. See Letter Template Management for more information on custom templates. You can also edit the email content to further customize it to fit your needs.
    • Subject—the subject line for your email.
  2. Edit the email content as needed. As a reminder, Relativity replaces bracketed [BRACKET_BLOCK] blocks with details from the request as the email is generated. You do not need to address any of these blocks. You can remove blocks by selecting and deleting them.
  3. Add any attachments for the reviewer.
  4. Click Preview Email Content.
  5. Click Confirm and Send to send the email. If you need to make changes, use the back button to return to the template. Note that you cannot recall the email after it's sent.

Acknowledgement Letter - Additional Information Required

Use this template to customize a response to the requester letting them know additional information is required to process the request.

The template contains prompts that you can use to customize your email, along with merged fields that pull data directly from the existing record. You can use the template as is or edit it to suit your specific needs.

You can edit templates to customize them for your agency. See Letter Template Management for details.

  • <***ABC***>—indicates data that you must provide. Replace the prompt with content specific to your request.
  • [ABC]—indicates merged content that is pulled directly from the preexisting record. Relativity will populate these prompts for you.

The email template for informing the requester their submittal is perfected and now ready for processing.

Click the Acknowledgement progress step to get started. The Acknowledgement Letter - Additional Information Required modal opens.

Steps:

  1. Complete the following fields:
    • To—Relativity auto-populates this field for you. You can add additional email addresses as well.
    • CC—the email addresses of any other users receiving a copy of the email.
    • Email Template—Relativity provides a default template that includes merged fields, or fields that are populated with details from the original request. Merged fields are contained in brackets with the field name. For example [ASSIGNED_TO]. You can also change the email template to another Relativity-provided template, or a custom template if your Relativity administrator created one. See Letter Template Management for more information on custom templates. You can also edit the email content to further customize it to fit your needs.
    • Subject—the subject line for your email.
  2. Edit the email content as needed, replacing any <***PLACEHOLDER***> blocks with your own wording. The bracketed [BRACKET_BLOCK] blocks represent merged fields where Relativity replaces them with details from the request as the email is generated. You do not need to address any of these blocks. You can remove blocks by selecting and deleting them. Just below the email template is a placeholder count that lets you know how many placeholder blocks need attention. Use the keyboard commands shown to move from one placeholder to another.
    Additional information on an email template includes the number of placeholders that need attention, along with a character count.
  3. Add any attachments for the reviewer.
  4. Click Preview Email Content.
  5. Click Confirm and Send to send the email. If you need to make changes, use the back button to return to the template. Note that you cannot recall the email after it's sent.
Clock start policies vary by agency. Relativity follows the DOJ's policy:
  • The clock starts when the request is received, not when it’s perfected.
  • If something is missing during the perfection evaluation, the clock can be stopped.
  • The clock restarts once perfection occurs.

The progress steps now reflect the Intake workflow progress. Use the Back button at the top of the screen to return to the RelativityOne FOIA portal. On the FOIA landing page, the Perfection status reflects the progress. If you need to send additional correspondence, click the Acknowledgement progress step to open the email template.

The FOIA list with one list item highlighting its perfected status.

At this point, Intake is complete and the workflow moves to the Search step.

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