FOIA and Public Records
Axcess1 New York
FOIA and Public Records management, built around FOIL
Built around your law — not around generic case management.
Built around your law — not around generic case management
Many case-management products ask a public body to adapt its process to the software. Axcess1 is configured around the legislation, the procedures, the vocabulary and the reporting obligations of each jurisdiction. An organization chooses its Act once; every screen, deadline, letter and report then follows it.
Generic case management
The organization adapts to the software.
Axcess1
The software follows the legislation and the way government works.
Legislation supported
Freedom of Information Law (N.Y. Public Officers Law, Article 6, §§ 84-90)
| What the Act requires | As configured in Axcess1 |
|---|---|
| Who it applies to | "Agency" in § 86(3): any state or municipal department, board, bureau, division, commission, committee, public authority, public corporation, council, office or other governmental entity performing a governmental or proprietary function for the state or any one or more municipalities thereof, except the judiciary or the state legislature. |
| Time limit to respond | 5 working days (Public Officers Law § 89(3)(a)). The due date is calculated when the request is entered, with the holidays of the jurisdiction. |
| Extensions | Up to 20 working days. Not an extension in the statute's words: within the 5 business days the agency may instead acknowledge the request in writing with an approximate date, reasonable under the circumstances, when it will be granted or denied. If the agency decides to grant in whole or in part and cannot disclose within 20 business days from the date of the acknowledgement, it must state in writing the reason and a date certain, within a reasonable period, when the request will be granted. (Public Officers Law § 89(3)(a)) |
| No answer in time | Treated as a refusal (Public Officers Law § 89(4)(a) (failure to conform to § 89(3) constitutes a denial); § 89(4)(b) (failure to decide the appeal constitutes a denial)); overdue requests are flagged. |
| Third-party notice | Notice under Public Officers Law § 89(5)(b)(1)-(2) (state agencies: person who requested an exception from disclosure for trade secrets or critical infrastructure information); 10 days for the third party to respond; 7 days to seek review of the decision |
| Decision and reasons | The decision letter gives the reasons, the provision relied on and the right of review (Public Officers Law § 89(3)(a) (denial in writing); § 87(2) (particularized and specific justification); § 89(4)(a)). |
| Fees | No application fee. Amounts in U.S. dollars (USD). Paper copies: not more than 25 cents per photocopy up to 9 x 14 inches; other records: actual cost of reproduction — only the hourly salary of the lowest paid employee with the necessary skill, the storage device or media, and an outside service when the agency's equipment is inadequate; no search or administrative costs; no fee unless at least 2 hours of employee time is needed to prepare the copy (§ 87(1)(c)). |
| Review and complaints | the head, chief executive or governing body of the agency, or the person designated to decide appeals (FOIL appeals officer); 30 days to ask for a review (Public Officers Law § 89(4)(a)) |
Loaded for this Act
- 29 provisions (exemptions, exceptions and exclusions) ready to cite on a redaction, each with its section number.
- Request types: FOIL request (Public Officers Law § 89(3)).
- Statutory steps on the timeline: Written acknowledgement within 5 business days with the approximate date of the decision, § 89(3)(a) (grant in whole or in part normally within 20 business days of the acknowledgement); Written notice of the reason and a date certain when the request will be granted, § 89(3)(a) (grant not possible within 20 business days of the acknowledgement) — enter the period to the date certain; Certification that the agency does not have possession of the record or that it cannot be found after diligent search, § 89(3)(a) (on request); Notice to the person who requested an exception from disclosure (trade secrets, critical infrastructure), § 89(5)(b)(1)-(2) (10 business days to submit a written statement; state agencies); Written determination granting, continuing or terminating the exception, § 89(5)(b)(3) (within 7 business days; copies to the requester, the submitter and the Committee; appeal within 7 business days, § 89(5)(c)(1)); Administrative appeal to the agency head or FOIL appeals officer, § 89(4)(a) (filed within 30 days; decided within 10 business days; copy to the Committee on Open Government); Appeal determination sent — reasons for further denial explained in writing or access provided, § 89(4)(a); copy forwarded to the Committee on Open Government; Advisory opinion of the Committee on Open Government requested or received, § 89(1)(b) (advisory only)….
Checked against the published text on 2026-10-03. New York State Senate — Public Officers Law § 86, Definitions · New York State Senate — Public Officers Law § 87, Access to agency records · New York State Senate — Public Officers Law § 89, General provisions relating to access to records; certain cases
Legislation-to-feature matrix
| Legislative requirement | Axcess1 support |
|---|---|
| Statutory deadline | 5 working days (Public Officers Law § 89(3)(a)): calculated automatically for each request; overdue and upcoming requests on the dashboard. |
| Extensions and holds | Recorded as events that move the due date, each tied to its section of the Act. |
| Exemptions and exclusions | The provisions of FOIL in the redaction editor, each with its section number. |
| Third parties and consultations | Notices, consultation packages and their due dates tracked on the request. |
| Fees | Fee notices and payments recorded on the request. |
| Reviews, appeals and complaints | Recorded on the request timeline with their dates and outcome. |
| Redaction | Done by the analyst in the built-in editor; optional AI suggestions that the analyst accepts or rejects. |
| Decision letters | Generated from templates for this Act, with the provisions cited. |
| Release | A release package built from the reviewed records; redactions are permanent in the released file. |
| Annual statistics | Annual access statistics for the period, with each figure traceable to its requests. |
| Audit trail | Every action on a request is recorded with the user and the time. |
From request to release
1Receive and validate
The request is entered with its type, requester and date received; a number is issued from your own numbering pattern.
2Calculate the deadline
The due date follows the Act: 5 working days (Public Officers Law § 89(3)(a)). Holds and extensions move it and are recorded.
3Assign and search
The request is assigned to an officer; the units holding records are tasked and their answers tracked.
4Collect and review
Records are uploaded (PDF, Office files, scans with text recognition) and reviewed page by page.
5Apply the provisions and redact
The analyst marks a passage and picks the provision of this Act; the released copy shows the section relied on.
6Consult
Consultation packages are produced per party, with their due dates.
7Approve
The response goes to the approver's inbox for review and signature.
8Release
The release package and the decision letter are generated from the request.
9Report
Requests, processing times, decisions and provisions invoked are counted for the period you choose.
Agentic AI across the lifecycle
AI is switched off until your administrator turns it on, one capability at a time. AI assists. Authorized officials decide.
Intake agent
Proposes a new request from a message, the portal or a drop folder; an officer confirms it.
Document intelligence
Summarizes and classifies the records and finds the people and organizations named in them.
Responsiveness agent
Suggests which records answer the request.
Exemption assist
Proposes provisions of FOIL with reasons; redaction candidates appear in the editor.
Consultation agent
Suggests who should be consulted and on which pages.
Quality assurance agent
Checks a package a second time before release.
Deadline watch
Lists the requests at risk of running late.
Copilot
Answers questions about a request, citing the records it used.
Migration
Case history, requesters and documents are brought over from the system you use today, so you do not start from an empty database.
Deployment
Hosted by SoftSim in Canada, on your own private cloud or servers, or standalone on a PC or Mac.
Security
Each organization's records are separate, access is controlled by role and every action is recorded. Run on your own servers, your records never leave your premises.
Try it free for 30 days
One licence, the full product, no obligation. Or see it first in a 30-minute demonstration.
Find Axcess1 for your jurisdiction
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Axcess1 supports configurable workflows designed around the applicable legislation. Government organizations remain responsible for legal interpretation and statutory decisions. Summaries of the legislation are paraphrases prepared from the published text; they are not legal advice.