BILL NUMBER: S67
SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to permitting
records required to be disclosed under the freedom of information law to
have exempt parts of such documents be redacted before disclosure
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to clarify a certain provision of the Free-
dom of Information Law (FOIL).
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section I: Amends subdivision 2, section 87 of the public officers law
to clarify that when a portion of a record may be denied under FOIL, an
agency may redact or withhold those portions, but must disclose the
remaining portions.
Section 2: Sets effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The language in this bill was drafted based on a recommendation in the
Committee on Open Government(COOG) 2024 annual report. The bill is a
response to bad court decisions and clarifies New York's Freedom of
Information Law as it pertains to redactions and disclosure.
New York's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) is clear: When part of a
record is exempt from FOIL, agencies must still disclose the parts that
are not exempt. Unfortunately, the Appellate Division, First Department
- which deals with some of NY's most important cases - has grossly
misinterpreted the law to state that when part of a record is exempt,
the agency may withhold the entire record.
As COOG has pointed out, this interpretation contradicts the law. COOG
stated in a September 2024 Advisory Opinion (FOIL AO 19866) that agen-
cies "may withhold the record if disclosure 'would constitute an unwar-
ranted invasion of personal privacy under the provisions of subdivision
two of section eighty-nine of this article' (POL § 87(2)(b)), but that
'disclosure shall not be construed to constitute an unwarranted invasion
of personal privacy . . . when identifying details are deleted' (POL §
89(2)(c)(i))."
COOG also notes that the First Department's findings contradict the
state's own case law. In their AO, COOG quotes an influential 1985 deci-
sion stating that "to the extent the reports contain 'statistical or
factual tabulations or data' (Public Officers Law § 87 
2  
G  
I), or
other material subject to production, they should be redacted and made
available to appellant."
The intent of FOIL and these decisions is obvious, but the First Depart-
ment has continued to misinterpret the law. This bill will help ensure
that courts correctly apply FOIL regarding what information must be
disclosed to the public.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S67: 87 public officers law, 87(2) public officers law