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SB466 / File No. 572 1
General Assembly File No. 572
February Session, 2026 Senate Bill No. 466
Senate, April 9, 2026
The Committee on Government Administration and Elections
reported through SEN. FLEXER of the 29th Dist., Chairperson
of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the bill ought to
pass.
AN ACT CONCERNING VEXATIOUS REQUESTERS UNDER THE
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (6) of subsection (b) of section 1 -206 of the 1
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 3
(6) Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection, a public agency 4
may petition the commission for relief from a requester that the public 5
agency alleges is a vexatious requester. Such petition shall be sworn 6
under penalty of false statement, as provided in section 53a -157b, and 7
shall detail the conduct which the agency alleges demonstrates a 8
vexatious history of requests, or harassing or threatening conduct, 9
including, but not limited to: (A) The number of requests filed and the 10
total number of pending requests; (B) the scope of the requests; (C) the 11
nature, content, language or subject matter of the requests; (D) the 12
nature, content, language or subject matter of other oral and written 13
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communications to the agency or an employee of the agency from the 14
requester, including, but not limited to, threatening or harassing 15
conduct that took place at or outside of the agency's office regardless of 16
whether such conduct was related to the request ; and (E) a pattern of 17
conduct that amounts to an abuse of the right to access information 18
under the Freedom of Information Act or an interference with the 19
operation of the agency. Upon receipt of such petition, the executive 20
director of the commission shall review the petition and determine 21
whether it warrants a hearing. If the executive director determines that 22
a hearing is not warranted, the executive director shall recommend that 23
the commission deny the petition without a hearing. The commission 24
shall vote at its next regular meeting after such recommendation to 25
accept or reject such recommendation and, after such meeting, shall 26
issue a written explanation of the reasons for such acceptance or 27
rejection. If the executive director determines that a hearing is 28
warranted, the commission shall serve upon all parties, by certified or 29
registered mail or electronic transmission, a copy of such petition 30
together with any other notice or order of the commission. The 31
commission shall, after due notice to the parties, hear and either grant 32
or deny the petition not later than one year after its filing. Upon a grant 33
of such petition, the commission may provide appropriate relief 34
commensurate with the vexatious conduct, including, but not limited 35
to, an order that the agency need not comply with future requests from 36
the vexatious requester for a specified period of time determined by the 37
commission, but for a first granting of such petition concerning a 38
requester, not to exceed one year , and for a second or subsequent 39
granting of such petition concerning a requester, not to exceed three 40
years. Any party aggrieved by the commission's granting of such 41
petition may apply to the superior court for the judicial district in which 42
the public agency is located, not later than fifteen days after the 43
commission meeting at which such petition was granted, for an order 44
reversing the commission's decision. 45
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
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Section 1 October 1, 2026 1-206(b)(6)
GAE Joint Favorable
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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill expands public agencies' ability to seek relief from the
Freedom of Information Commission (FOIC) against a vexatious
requester and increases to three years the maximum period during
which agencies may deny FOIA requests from a vexatious requester , if
permitted by FOIC. The bill results in no fiscal impact to the state or
municipalities, as it is not expected to result in savings associated with
FOIA request workload.
The Out Years
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None
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OLR Bill Analysis
SB 466
AN ACT CONCERNING VEXATIOUS REQUESTERS UNDER THE
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.
SUMMARY
By law, public agencies may petition the Freedom of Information
Commission (FOIC) for relief from a Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) vexatious requester. C urrent law requires agencies to show
conduct that demonstrates a vexatious history of requests, and this bill
specifies that this may also include demonstrating harassing or
threatening conduct.
Under current law, the petition must be sworn under penalty of false
statement and detail the alleged conduct that includes:
1. the number of requests filed and pending;
2. the scope of the requests;
3. the nature, content, language, or subject matter of requests or
other oral and written communications to the agency from the
requester;
4. a pattern of conduct that amounts to an abuse of the right to
access information under FOIA or an interference with the
agency’s operation.
The bill expands the conduct to include (1) the nature, content ,
language, or subject matter of oral or written communications to an
agency employee and (2) conduct about the agency or its employee that
is threatening or harassing conduct at or outside the agency’s office,
regardless of whether the conduct is related to the FOIA request.
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By law, FOIC may provide appropriate relief commensurate with a
vexatious requestor’s conduct, including an order that an agency does
not need to comply with the person’s requests for a period of time.
Currently, this type of order can apply for up to one year. The bill
increases this maximum time period to up to three years if FOIC finds a
person is a vexatious requestor based on a second or subsequent
petition.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
BACKGROUND
FOIA and Vexatious Requesters
Agencies may petition FOIC for relief from vexatious requesters, and
the commission must hold a hearing on the petitions its executive
director determines warrant one. The law does not define the term
“vexatious requester.” Instead, it outlines alleged conduct that must be
included in the agency petition and considered during FOIC’s review
process.
FOIC Review
Upon receiving a petition, FOIC ’s executive director must review it
and determine whether it warrants a hearing. If the executive director
determines that a hearing is not warranted, she must recommend that
the commission deny the petition. At its next regular meeting, the
commission must vote on the recommendation and after the meeting, it
must issue a written explanation of the reasons for accepting or rejecting
the recommendation.
If the executive director determines that a hearing is warranted, the
law requires the commission to serve all parties with a copy of the
petition and any other FOIC notice or order. The commission must hear
and either grant or deny the petition within one year after its filing.
Related Case
Although vexatious is not defined in statute, the Superior C ourt
upheld FOIC’s adoption of the ordinary meaning of vexatious as
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causing vexation , distressing, and intended to harass . The case is
currently on appeal. (Olson v. Freedom of Information Commission ,
Superior Court, Judicial District of New Britain, at New Britain, No.
6076363, August 30, 2024).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Administration and Elections Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 13 Nay 6 (03/23/2026)