How statutory deadlines are set, and what locks at intake

Every request Govflo tracks is measured against the statutory window your agency works to. This article covers where that window comes from, who can change it, and why changing it does not touch the requests you already have open.

The agency default

Under Settings, then Workflows, then SLA Policies, the Agency default is the statutory window every request is measured against. It carries two figures:

• Initial response. How long you have to get back to the requester at all.
• Determination / fulfillment. How long you have to finish.

These come from the statutory profile beneath them, so they are not edited on this screen. Govflo names the source, for example the Inspection of Public Records Act for a New Mexico agency.

The agency default never pauses. That is a property of your statute rather than a setting, and it is the most important thing to know about deadlines in Govflo.

The statutory profile

The Statutory profile is the legal ruleset your agency operates under. Govflo clones it from a reference library and your administrators can then edit it. It holds:

• The two windows, each with its own day type.
• Day type, either calendar days or business days. The two windows can use different units, because many statutes are written that way.
• Extensions allowed, with an Extension basis and a Max extension. A blank maximum is lawful but uncapped, which is how Govflo represents a standard that asks only for a reasonable time.
• Reminders, sent a set number of days before a target is due, optionally raising the request's priority and sending a particular template.
• Escalations, sent in levels after a target has been breached.

A profile can be marked Verified, meaning a lawyer has reviewed those values for your jurisdiction.

Calendar days against business days

Day type decides everything downstream, so check it before trusting any date.

Where a window counts calendar days, the clock runs continuously. A request that reaches you on Friday afternoon spends the weekend.

Where a window counts business days, the clock reads your agency calendar. Working hours, time zone and holidays are set once under Settings, then User Management, then Business Hours, and every business-day calculation reads from them. A holiday nobody entered is the usual reason a date looks a day out.

The reopen window

Under Advanced, the Reopen window is the deadline a request gets when it comes back from a closed status, including when a requester's reply reopens it. It is counted in business days against your agency calendar.

The original deadline is not revived, because you met it. The request gets a fresh one, and you can still change that date afterwards.

Rules lock at intake

A request keeps the rules that applied on the day it arrived. Editing the profile affects new requests only.

This is deliberate. You answer a request under the law in force when it was filed, so a configuration change cannot retroactively put your open work into breach, and it cannot rescue work that is already late.

No deadline is a real answer

Some jurisdictions set no numeric deadline and ask only that records be produced promptly. Where your profile carries no figure for a window, Govflo creates no clock for it. Nothing counts down and nothing can be missed.

An empty SLA panel on those requests is correct. It is the software reflecting your statute, not a fault.