Send Documents for Consultation Review

Documents from the FOIA Office are sent for consultation review in the form of an ADX, TIFF, or PDF file.

Consultation Review Process

The consultation review process is described below:

In FOIA Office:

1. Document Folders to be sent for consultation review are opened in FOIAXpress

2. A Review Layer is applied as required

3. The Send/Save for Consultation Review option, which is available on the Document Management toolbar, is used to send the document for consultation review

NOTE: This option is only visible when the Folder is selected.

4. On the Send/Save Documents for Consultation screen, users select the Folders to be reviewed

5. Once all information is entered, documents can be sent, saved, or printed

In Action Office:

1. Once the review file is received from the FOIA office, it will be opened for review

2. The officer reviews the documents

3. Once the review is complete, comments are added, and the files are sent back to the FOIA office

In FOIA Office:

1. The responsive documents are checked before opening them on the Consultation Reviewed Documents: Import screen

2. Once the FOIA officer is satisfied with the response, the files are imported into FOIAXpress. If there are additional documents attached to the file, they will be included

3. For additional information about importing documents from consultation review, click the links below

4. Import Documents from Consultation Review

Steps to Send the Documents for Consultation Review

Follow the steps below to send a document for Consultation Review.

1. Click Document Management > Search Folders. The following screen displays
   

3. Enter search criteria as necessary to locate the Folder containing the documents you want to send for Consultation Review

4. Click Search

5. From the search results, select the checkbox next to the Folder containing the documents you want to send for Consultation Review

6. Click Open Folders. The Document Management screen displays as shown below
   

6. Right-click the folder you want to Send/Save for Consultation Review. A menu displays as shown below

NOTE: After clicking on the Folder, you will be prompted to load a review layer. To load a review layer, follow steps 6-9 as described in Load Review Layer. If you load a review layer, repeat step 6 as described above.

NOTE: The image above shows what displays when a review layer has been loaded.

7. Click Send/Save for Consultation Review. The Send/Save Documents for Consultation dialog box displays as shown below

Step 1: Page Selection

When initiating a consultation, the system prompts you to confirm the pages.

•  All Pages Selection - If multiple folders and files are selected, this option is auto-selected.

•  Page List (comma-separated values) - Enter specific page numbers.

NOTE: Only one page range option may be selected at a time. The selected page range is carried forward to subsequent steps.

Click Create Consultation to proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Consultation Setup

In this step, you decide how the consultation will be handled.

Select one of the following options:

• Create New Consultation - Creates a new consultation package.

•  Add to Existing Consultation - Adds pages to an existing consultation package.

• Edit Existing Consultation - Edits an existing consultation package, allowing you to change Program Office assignments, modify page selections, and update review flag filtering.

Package Details

The following fields are displayed as read-only:

• File Cabinet Name

•  Document Name

•  Section

•  Selected Pages (count) - An Edit action is available to modify the page selection from Step 1.

Selection Summary

The Selection Summary panel displays at the top of the consultation screen and shows the count of selected pages and documents in the format: "{X} page(s) from {Y} document(s)".

Step 3: Create New Consultation

Basic Information:

• Enter the mandatory Consultation Name

The maximum characters limit is 255.

• Select the mandatory Email Template

• Click the Edit icon to modify the selected template.

Email Templates are populated from System Configuration > Correspondence Templates.

Review Information:

• Request ID - Read-only.

• Comments - Optional text area.

Include Correspondence (Optional):

When enabled, select one of the following:

•  Memo Template

•  Pending Memo

Click Customize and Save to open a modal to edit the selected memo.

Reviewers Information (Program Office Level):

• Select Program Offices from the table. A checkbox column appears before Program Office names for row selection.

• Filter Program Offices based on Action Office

• Search Program Offices by name

• Create a new Program Office via modal

Program Office Grid

The Program Office grid displays all Program Offices associated with the consultation. The grid includes the following columns:

Marked Pages Count

The Marked Pages column count is calculated independently for each program office row. For each row, the column shows the number of pages that meet all three of the following conditions:

• The page is marked for consultation.

• The page is included in your Edit Pages selection for that program office.

• The page is flagged for review.

Update the Count

The Marked Pages count refreshes automatically when you change the Edit Pages selection for a row.

To change a row's selection:

• In the program office row, click Edit Pages.

• Update your page selection.

• Apply the change. The Marked Pages count updates immediately.

Zero State

• If none of the pages in your Edit Pages selection are marked, the column displays 0 Marked Page(s).

• If you clear the Edit Pages selection, the count resets 0 Marked Page(s).

NOTE: Each program office row counts marked pages on its own. The same marked page can appear in the count for two different rows if you have included it in the Edit Pages selection for both. To see the unique marked pages for the document as a whole, refer to the Marked Pages column in the Review Log Documents grid (see Marked Pages Count for Each Document below).

NOTE: The "Final Pages" column was previously labeled "Existing Pages". It has been renamed to "Final Pages" and uses the same page calculation logic as the Create Consultation flow.

Edit Pages Modal

Click the Edit Pages pencil icon for a Program Office row to open the Edit Pages modal. This modal allows you to refine the page selection for that specific Program Office.

Document and Section Selection

If multiple documents exist in the document viewer hierarchy:

• A Select Document dropdown is auto-populated with all available documents. Select the target document to scope the page selection.

• If the selected document contains multiple sections, a Select Section dropdown appears conditionally below the Select Document dropdown. Select a specific section to scope the page range to that section's pages only.

• If the document has no sections, the Select Section dropdown is not displayed

Page Selection Modes

The Edit Pages modal provides the following selection modes:

Marked Pages Behavior

The Marked Pages feature allows FOIA analysts to pre-mark pages for specific Program Offices during the document review process:

• Selecting Only Marked Pages includes pages marked for that specific Program Office.

• The system displays the count of marked pages in the selection context.

• If no pages are marked for a Program Office, the Only Marked Pages button is disabled.

• The Marked Pages column displays the count in the format "{X} Marked page(s)". The default value updates based on pages marked by the user.

Review Flag Filtering

After selecting pages using the Edit Pages modal, the selected pages are further filtered by the chosen Review Flag:

• Page values are populated based on the selections made in the Edit Pages modal.

• Selected pages are then filtered by the chosen Review Flag.

• Selecting All under Review Flags retains legacy behavior - all pages are included regardless of flag presence.

Final Pages Calculation

• Final Pages = Selected Pages filtered by Review Flag

• Display format: {X} page(s) from {Y} document(s)

The Final Pages column updates dynamically in the Program Office grid as you modify page selections and Review Flag values.

Zero Result Handling

If the Final Pages count equals zero after applying page selection and Review Flag filtering:

• The system blocks the consultation creation or update.

• The Save / Create action is disabled.

Add to Existing Consultation

When you select Add to Existing Consultation in Step 2, the system displays the existing consultation Program Office grid. This flow allows you to append additional pages to an existing consultation package per Program Office.

Consultation Ordering and Search

Consultations that are prepared or updated but have not yet been sent are available for selection. There is no functional change to the ordering and search behavior for existing consultations.

Page Append Behavior

When adding pages to an existing consultation, the system follows these rules:

• The system appends newly selected pages to the existing consultation. Existing pages are preserved.

• The system does not overwrite existing pages.

• The system prevents duplicate pages from being added. If a selected page already exists in the consultation, it is not added again.

NOTE: Adding pages to an existing consultation is a non-destructive, additive operation. All page selection modes, Review Flag filtering, and zero result handling apply identically to the Create New Consultation flow.

Edit Consultation

When editing an existing consultation, the same Program Office grid, Edit Pages modal, Marked Pages, Final Pages, and Review Flag filtering apply. The following behaviors are specific to the Edit flow:

Program Office List (Edit Flow)

In the Edit flow, only the Program Offices for which the consultation was originally created are listed. No additional Program Offices can be added during editing.

Page Selection Reset on Program Office Change

When you change the Program Office on a row:

• Previously selected pages are not assumed valid for the new Program Office.

• The system resets the page selection to the default: All Selected Pages from the hierarchy.

• The Edit Pages pencil icon remains enabled after the change, allowing you to redefine the page selection for the new Program Office.

Marked Pages Recalculation

When a Program Office is changed on a row:

• The Marked Pages column recalculates based on the newly selected Program Office, and existing marked pages mapped to that office.

• If no pages are marked for the new Program Office, the column displays "0 Marked page(s)".

• If the user selects Only Marked Pages after a Program Office change, the system includes only pages marked for the new Program Office. If none exist, the result is 0 Marked page(s).

Final Pages Recalculation (Edit Flow)

The Final Pages column dynamically updates based on:

• The updated Program Office

• The page selection logic applied (selection mode)

• The Review Flag filtering is applied

Row Isolation

Changing the Program Office for one row does not impact the page selection or marked state of any other Program Office rows. Each row operates independently.

Edit Restrictions

When the consultation status is Sent, certain controls may be locked to prevent modifications to an already-dispatched consultation package.

Consistency Across Flows

The Create New Consultation, Add to Existing Consultation, and Edit Consultation flows all use the same underlying page selection logic:

• All page selection modes (All Selected Pages, Only Marked Pages, Page List, Specific Selection) behave identically.

• Review Flag filtering applies the same way.

• Zero result handling (block + message) applies the same way.

• The Edit Pages modal and its controls are identical across all flows.

• The Selection Summary is always visible and non-collapsible across all flows.

Mark Pages for Consultation

Before creating a consultation, you can optionally mark pages for specific Program Offices. Marking pages is a preparatory step that allows you to pre-assign pages to Program Offices, making it easier to select pages during the consultation creation, editing, or add-to-existing workflows.

NOTE: Marking pages is optional. It does not restrict or gate consultation creation. You can create consultations without marking any pages.

Mark Pages

To mark pages for consultation, follow these steps:

• In the Document Viewer, select one or more pages from the document hierarchy.

• Right-click the selected page(s) and click Mark for Consultation.

The Mark for Consultation action is available at both page and folder levels. You can mark:

• All pages -marks all pages in the selected document or folder

• Specific pages -marks only the pages selected from the hierarchy

• Pages via Page List input -enter specific page numbers or ranges

Assign Marked Pages to Program Offices

After selecting the pages, you assign them to one or more Program Offices:

• The Program Office list is sorted alphabetically (A-Z).

• A type-in search input is displayed at the top of the Program Office section. The search filters the list in real time as you type.

• Select the checkbox next to one or more Program Offices to assign the marked pages.

• Click Mark Pages to confirm.

Visual Representation of Marked State

Unmark Pages

To remove marked pages from specific Program Offices:

• An Unmark Selected button is available alongside the Marked Pages button in the marking workflow.

• Select one or more Program Offices and click Unmark Selected to reset their marked state.

• Unmarking is scoped per Program Office; unmarking one office does not affect others.

Page Marking Persistence and Behavior

The following rules govern how marked pages are stored and managed:

• Marked pages are stored per Document and per Program Office.

• A single page can be marked for multiple Program Offices simultaneously.

• Re-marking the same page or set of pages updates the existing marked set for that Program Office. It does not create duplicates.

• Un-marking resets the marked set for the selected Program Office(s) to empty.

Marked Pages Column in Review Log Documents Grid

A new Marked Pages column is added to the Review Log Documents Grid. This column provides visibility into which pages have been marked for consultation per document.

NOTE: The Marked Pages column is only visible to users who have the Send/Save Consultations permission.

Column Display

The Marked Pages column displays:

• The count of Marked pages per document in the format: {X} Marked page(s)

• If no pages are marked: 0 Marked page(s)

• The column updates dynamically when pages are marked or unmarked.

Tooltip Details

When you hover over the Marked Pages value, a tooltip displays the details of which pages are marked for which Program Offices:

Format: (Program Office Name) (X) Page(s) - (Individual Page No.)

• If a range of pages is selected (e.g., pages 1-20), the range is displayed as a range.

• Each Program Office is listed separately in the tooltip.

Each Program Office row displays a badge reflecting its current marked state:

8. Select the Page Range

9. Click OK. The Send/Save Documents for Consultation window displays as shown below

10. Enter information in the fields described below as necessary

11. Click OK. The Job Progress window displays as shown below

12. When the job is completed, (the Job Status will say "Completed"), click Close Window

13. Close the Document Management screen. The Consultation Review displays in the Consultation Review Log