FOAA Request/Right To Know

The Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) grants the people of this state a broad right of access to public records while protecting legitimate governmental interests and the privacy rights of individual citizens. The act also ensures the accountability of the government to the citizens of the state by requiring public access to the meetings of public bodies. Transparency and open decision-making are fundamental principles of the Maine Freedom of Access Act, and they are essential to ensuring continued trust and confidence in our government.

A request should be submitted to our Town of Sweden FOAA Officer by using the FOAA request form, and returned by email or dropped off at the Town office during normal business hours. Please be as specific as possible when describing the records you are seeking. If a particular document is required, it should be identified precisely-preferably by author, date and title. However, a request does not have to be that specific. If you cannot identify a specific record, you should clearly explain the type of records you are seeking, from what time frame and what subject the records should contain.

Our FOAA Officer will acknowledge your request within 5 days, and the records will be made available within a reasonable period of time after the request was made. There is no initial fee for submitting a FOAA request, however there may be a fee charged for the time spent searching for, retrieving, compiling or redacting confidential information from the requested records. The FOAA authorizes agencies or officials to charge $15 per hour after the first hour of staff time per request, and $25 per hour after the first two hours of staff time per request.