Jarrod Panter
Lee’s Summit,United States
Summary
Dynamic Chief FOIA Officer at USCIS with a proven track record in Freedom of Information Act compliance and E-Discovery management. Expertly negotiated complex information requests, achieving a 94% reduction in backlog. Adept at performance metrics tracking and fostering team development, driving operational excellence and strategic goal attainment.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Chief Freedom of Information Act Officer
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS)
Lee’s Summit, MO
04.2025 - Current
- Chief FOIA Officer for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
- Administer the USCIS FOIA program and ensure agency compliance with applicable statutes and regulations.
- Provide Freedom of Information/Privacy Act guidance to over 200 information disclosure professionals.
- Manage a section of 5 first-line supervisors and 72 information disclosure specialists.
- Manage over 100 ongoing litigation cases
- Track performance of section through utilization rate and performance metrics
- Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills:
Supervisory Government Information Specialist
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS)
Lee’s Summit, MO
12.2021 - 04.2025
- Chief of the Significant Interest in the Freedom of Information Act Division of the National Records Center.
- Awarded Department of Homeland Security Freedom of Information Act Professional of the Year 2022.
- Chairman of the FOIA Division Supervisory Development Committee
- Oversaw the efforts of 30 division employees, and two managers engaged in operational and litigation case work.
- Coached and mentored employees through employee performance evaluations, one-on-one meetings, and training.
- Expert knowledge, and application, of the Freedom of Information Act., 5 U.S.C. § 552, the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a and all governing laws/acts.
- Set strategic goals and objectives to ensure division meets operational needs and organizational mission.
- Presented and participated in regular briefings, outreaches and meetings with agency components, Office of Chief Counsel, and leadership.
- Set goals and objectives and Developed action plans to accomplish goals and objectives.
- Provided written and oral briefings, on a weekly basis, to upper management on the state of program projects, initiatives, and issues.
- Established and maintained liaison and working relationships with external requesters, internal staff members, components, and all levels of management within USCIS, DHS and all other agencies.
- Conducted training with headquarters personnel on FOIA/Privacy Act laws, guidelines, and Significant Interest Group initiatives.
- Managed the reduction of over 400 complex business information requests over 6-month period resulting in a 94% decrease of immigrant investor record request backlog. Accomplished through closely monitoring workflow and targeting resources as needed to complete project.
- Ensured work products complied with policies, procedures, and directives. Collaborate with agency leadership in answering complex information requests.
- Worked in partnership with the USCIS Office of Chief Counsel to provide records for court ordered deadlines.
- Worked closely with Assistant U.S. Attorneys to resolve and negotiate terms of ongoing litigation cases.
- Assessed the needs of the Division technologically and upgraded the agency’s E-Discovery platform resulting in a substantial savings in time and resources.
- Initiated and developed a formal training program for the Significant Interest Group (SIG).
- Restructured the division to better answer the growing needs of the division and agency mission.
- Oversaw the hiring of new employees.
- Hired and mentored two new supervisors.
- Conducted study, along with Program Management Office to access Full-time Equivalent enhancement (FTE) for the Significant Interest Group.
- Implemented Tiger Team to completely reduce backlog of Alien file requests in SIG.
- Supervisor: Jim Baxley
Supervisory Government Information Specialist
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS)
Lee’s Summit, MO
08.2019 - 12.2021
- Oversaw the Significant Interest Group Operations team in the Freedom of Information Act Division of the National Records Center.
- Supervised the work of 15 employees with diverse and specialized skillsets and duties.
- Conducted complex analysis of each job function within SIG and established procedures to achieve maximum efficiency of resources and workflow.
- Monitored quality, production, and timeliness of work.
- Managed workflow to meet mission needs, deadlines, and goals.
- Coached and mentored both high performing and underperforming employees through training, developmental opportunities, and direct communication to improve performance
- Implemented formal training program for new employees.
- Developed targeting strategy to focus 75% of resources on reducing case backlog.
- Worked with program offices across agency to identify complex requests that could be negotiated to reduce processing and records search burdens.
- Supervisor: Elliot Viker
Senior Government Information Specialist
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service
Lee’s Summit, MO
07.2018 - 08.2019
- Primary information request negotiator for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
- Negotiated the terms and scope of highly complex information requests with members of the media, advocacy groups, educational institutes, private entities, and the public in general.
- Successfully negotiated information requests to reduce record searches and processing burdens on agency resources.
- Served as the primary liaison with executive level agency and external agency leadership regarding the resolution of highly complex information requests.
- Conducted research on technical and legal matters regarding the applicability of Freedom of Information Act exemptions to sensitive systems, programs, and specialized information.
- Coordinate the release of records with headquarters level program managers.
- Monitor backlog of information requests with program offices.
- Manage production deadlines in conjunction with litigation matters.
- Consult with the Office of Chief Counsel regarding complex information requests
- Created a reporting tool to communicate information request backlogs to program offices, across the agency, resulting in obtaining records for customers in a timelier manner.
- Developed procedures and guidelines to incorporate newly implemented negotiating functions into fulfilling information requests.
- Negotiated and narrowed the scope of 30+ information requests saving thousands of full-time equivalent hours producing products.
- Established bi-weekly conference calls with major program offices to communicate challenges and concerns with outstanding information requests. Conference calls resulted in the delivery of more accurate information to customers.
- Supervisor: Jeff Fox
Supervisory Government Information Specialist
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service
Lee’s Summit, MO
10.2015 - 07.2018
- Managed a group of 4 first-line supervisors, 12 senior level employees, and 50 entry level employees.
- Tracked the production and quality of work based on performance metrics through quantitative reporting
- Oversaw the performance management of first-line supervisors.
- Produced various management and numerical data reports to ensure supervisors and teams accomplished organizational goals, mission, and production metrics.
- Compiled and analyzed large amounts of numerical data for each function within FOIA and created reports and recommendations for a Staffing Allocation Model (SAM).
- Implemented monthly virtual meetings with various headquarter level program offices to collaborate on backlog reduction and resolution of complex information requests.
- Conducted outreach presentations with various program offices to ensure accurate records searches.
- Established policies and procedures for responding to records requests from congressional sub-committees.
- Reduced the Significant Interest Group backlog from 255 cases to 170 cases.
- Developed an information request backlog report that was provided to headquarters which resulted in the timelier submission of records.
- Increased production of employees by 43% during fiscal year 2016, through closely monitoring performance and coaching.
- Selected as one of five managers throughout USCIS to serve on a labor/management committee charged with monitoring employee performance appraisals and making recommendations to upper-level management on approving appraisal process.
- Supervisor: Jill Eggleston
Education
Master’s Degree - Master of Public Administration
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS, United StatesBachelor of Science -
Newman University
Wichita, KS, United StatesSkills
- Freedom of Information Act
- Privacy Act compliance
- E-Discovery management
- Information request negotiation
- Performance metrics tracking
- Project management
Certification
Google Artificial Intelligence Essentials Certificate
Training
- The Graduate School, Executive Leadership Program, May 2013
- Federal Executive Board, Comprehensive Review of the Executive Core Qualifications, September 2016
- Office of Security and Integrity Management Inquiry course, 2015
- Microsoft Excel Beginner and Intermediate, 2018
Timeline
Chief Freedom of Information Act Officer
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS)
04.2025 - Current
Supervisory Government Information Specialist
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS)
12.2021 - 04.2025
Supervisory Government Information Specialist
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS)
08.2019 - 12.2021
Senior Government Information Specialist
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service
07.2018 - 08.2019
Supervisory Government Information Specialist
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service
10.2015 - 07.2018
Master’s Degree - Master of Public Administration
University of Kansas
Bachelor of Science -
Newman University