Deer Park, Texas by the Numbers
33,468
Residents
60
Public Records Requests per Month
54
JustFOIA Users Across 30 Departments
The City of Deer Park, Texas, serves 33,000 residents in the Houston area. When they turned to JustFOIA in 2015, they were getting about 15-20 records requests per month. While that volume might seem manageable, the city struggled with a paper-heavy process that consumed staff time and created compliance risks.
And like many places in the country, requests were on the rise. They decided it was time to make a change.
Daily Detours
Sonia Acosta, records technician for Deer Park, knew the old system was broken. “Before JustFOIA, our open records request process was a time-consuming,” Sonia said.
“There were a lot of papers being taken to and from different departments; literally walking to each department and dropping off the records requests, as well as making a lot of copies to fill those requests.”
Without a centralized tracking system, monitoring deadlines became nearly impossible. This was a problem since Texas law requires agencies to complete most public record requests within 10 days.
Skipping the Busywork
JustFOIA eliminated the paper shuffle that consumed Sonia’s days.
“The time we spend on our records process has decreased dramatically,” Sonia said.
Now Sonia simply logs requests into JustFOIA and routes them electronically with a checkbox. Departments receive automatic notifications when requests arrive, and she gets notified when they’re completed. Citizens can submit requests through an intuitive online form, while email and paper requests can still be entered by staff.
In addition to streamlining workflows, JustFOIA provided comprehensive reporting that Deer Park never had before. Administrative users can access detailed analytics showing average response times by department, fees, processing times, and completion rates. Bottleneck reports help identify departments that need additional support.
Cutting the Risks
The system’s tracking capabilities solved Deer Park’s compliance concerns by automatically calculating deadlines and showing exactly how long departments have held requests. “JustFOIA is like a tracking system – it does the legwork for us,” Sonia said. “It is the connection between us and the departments.”
Sonia can add documentation and notes to remind departments of deadlines, preventing delays and keeping everyone accountable.
“I also like how the notification comes through my email to let me know that the department I’ve routed it to has completed it. It’s been beneficial to our department,” Sonia said.
Built-in notifications ensure nothing falls through the cracks, while the public portal allows citizens to track their requests independently. This transparency reduces follow-up calls and builds community trust.
Get More Good Days Done with JustFOIA
Ready to cut the busywork and streamline your public records process like Deer Park did? JustFOIA’s web-based system can help your agency save time, reduce risks, and improve citizen satisfaction.
