28 C.F.R. § 802.8 – Expedited processing.

(a) Requests and appeals will be taken out of order and given expedited treatment whenever staff determines that they involve:
1. (1) Circumstances in which the lack of expedited treatment could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual. The requester must fully explain the circumstances warranting such an expected threat so that the Agency may make a reasoned determination.
2. (2) With respect to a request made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information, a matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government's integrity which affect public confidence. A person “primarily engaged in disseminating information” does not include individuals who are engaged only incidentally in the dissemination of information. The standard of “widespread and exceptional media interest” requires that the records requested pertain to a matter of current exigency to the American public and that delaying a response to a request for records would compromise a significant recognized interest to and throughout the general public. The requester must adequately explain the matter or activity and why it is necessary to provide the records being sought on an expedited basis.
(b) If you seek expedited processing, you must submit a statement, certified to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief. The statement must be in the form prescribed by 28 U.S.C. 1746, “I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. Executed on [date].”
(c) The determination as to whether to grant or deny the request for expedited processing will be made, and the requester notified, within ten days after the date of the request. Because a decision to take a FOIA request out of order delays other requests, simple fairness demands that such a decision be made by the FOIA Officer only upon careful scrutiny of truly exceptional circumstances. The decision will be made solely based on the information contained in the initial letter requesting expedited processing.
(d) Appeals of initial determinations to deny expedited processing must be made promptly. Both the envelope and the letter of appeal should be sent to the Office of the General Counsel, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, 633 Indiana Avenue, NW., Room 1220, Washington, DC 2004 and must be clearly marked “Expedited Processing Appeal.”
(e) The General Counsel will make an appeal determination regarding expedited processing as soon as practicable.