Before you file,
file for someone else.
RequestRelay is a public records exchange. You file a request for another user — then someone in a different jurisdiction files yours. Your name never appears on your own request. The database of 59,000+ agencies makes it all possible.
Try it now
How the exchange works
You describe what you need
Tell us in plain English what records you want and from which agency. We generate a legally proper FOIA/FOIL request citing the correct state law.
First, you file for someone else
Before your request goes out, you file another user's request with an agency in your area. It takes a few minutes. This is the exchange.
Someone else files yours
A user from a different jurisdiction files your request. Your name never appears. When the agency responds, the records come back to you through RequestRelay.
Identity protection through reciprocity
The journalist investigating their own city's police department doesn't file that request — someone three counties over does. In return, that person's request gets filed by someone else entirely. No one is connected to their own request.
59,000+ agencies, one database
Every county, city, township, school district, and special authority in the United States. Clerk names, emails, portal URLs, mailing addresses, and the specific law that applies in each state. The most complete FOIA contact database anywhere.
AI writes the request, you review it
Describe what you want in plain English. Our system generates a legally proper request citing the right statute — FOIL in New York, OPRA in New Jersey, CPRA in California. You review and approve before anything gets filed.
Built for people who need transparency
Independent journalists investigating local government who can't have their name on the request. Newsrooms filing across multiple jurisdictions. Researchers, attorneys, and engaged citizens who need public records but don't know where to start — or need to protect their source.
Join the Alpha
We're onboarding a small group of early users. Independent journalists and newsrooms are preferred, but anyone who works with public records is welcome.