Public Records Requests
Purdue University is committed to providing access to public records under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act (APRA), Indiana Code § 5-14-3. The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is responsible for accepting, reviewing and responding to all requests for public records. Faculty and staff are not authorized to receive, grant or deny any requests and should refer individuals to this webpage for information.
Questions about these procedures or how to make a request may be directed to the Office of Legal Counsel by emailing publicrecords@purdue.edu.
Submitting a Public Records Request
To ensure that Purdue can provide timely and consistent responses, all requests for public records submitted pursuant to the APRA must be filed with the OLC by submitting the Purdue University Request for Public Records Form. Each request must identify the record(s) being sought with reasonable particularity. IC § 5-14-3-3.
Action on Requests
A request will be considered received as of the date and time the Request Form is submitted to the OLC. Requests received after business hours will be dated as of the next business day.
Please note that the APRA does not require the production of documents within seven days. Rather, the APRA states that a request will be deemed denied if the requester does not receive a response from the state agency within that time frame. The OLC will send the requester an email within seven days acknowledging the request has been received and that Purdue intends to process the request pursuant to the APRA. If there are any responsive records, they will be reviewed by the OLC as there may be applicable exemptions that allow or require Purdue to redact or withhold records. Indiana Code § 5-14-3-4.
The Office of Legal Counsel strives to fulfill requests in the order they are received and provide timely responses to requests for public records. However, our response times may be impacted by the current volume of requests that are being processed.
Student Requests for Education Records
If you are a current or former student seeking access to your own education records under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), please email legalcounsel@purdue.edu to submit your request.
Requests for Regional Campus Records
Requests for records maintained by Purdue University Fort Wayne or Purdue University Northwest should be submitted to those institutions directly. Purdue Indy requests for records are processed by the OLC and should be submitted following the procedures described above.
Federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests
When a sponsored project is funded with a federal grant, the grant proposal, project description and funding agreement are subject to the provisions of the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Requests of this nature go to the federal agency funding the project, who, in turn, contacts the University to ascertain whether any information should be withheld under the provisions of FOIA. The OLC will work with the principle investigator (PI) to review the requested material and will respond to the request within the timeframe stipulated by the requesting federal agency.
If Sponsored Program Services or the PI receive notice of a FOIA request, they are required to contact the Office of Legal Counsel at 765-496-3550 or publicrecords@purdue.edu to request guidance.
Responsibility for these Procedures
The OLC is responsible for maintaining these procedures and may designate a public records administrator on each campus to assist in responding to requests for records.
