Illinois Freedom of Information Act

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The Illinois Freedom of Information Act, or Illinois FOIA, is a series of laws designed to guarantee that the public has access to public records of government bodies at all levels in Illinois. The law was first enacted in 1984.

The Illinois FOIA is based on an assertion in the statute that access to "full and complete information regarding the affairs of government" is "necessary to enable the people to fulfill their duties of discussing public issues fully and freely, making informed political judgments and monitoring government to ensure that it is being conducted in the public interest."[1]

The Illinois Open Meetings Act legislates the methods by which public meetings are conducted.

[edit] Transparency report card

A 2008 study, BGA - Alper Integrity Index, conducted by the Better Government Association and sponsored by Alper Services, ranked Illinois #11 in the nation (along with Arizona and West Virginia) with an overall percentage of 58.00%. [2]

A 2007 study, Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, conducted by BGA and the NFOIC, gave Illinois 59 points out of a possible 100, a letter grade of "F", and a ranking of 13 out of the 50 states.[3]

A 2002 study, Freedom of Information in the USA, conducted by IRE and BGA, ranked Illinois's law as the 26th worst in the country, giving it a letter grade of "C-".[4]

[edit] Features of the law

[edit] What records are covered?

5 ILCS 140(2)(c) defines public records as "all records, reports, forms, writings, letters, memoranda, books, papers, maps, photographs, microfilms, cards, tapes, recordings, electronic data processing records, recorded information and all other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, having been prepared, or having been or being used, received, possessed or under the control of any public body."

[edit] What agencies are covered?

The Illinois FOIA says that any agency in the state that is supported in whole or in part by tax revenue, or which expends tax revenue, is subject to the act. More specifically, it says that any legislative, executive, administrative or advisory bodies, state universities and colleges, counties, townships, cities, villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees or commissions of Illinois, and any other subsidiary bodies of any of the foregoing including but not limited to committees and subcommittees.

However, the law defines a number of exemptions.

  • Child death review teams established under the Child Death Review Team Act are explicitly excluded from the law's definition of a public body.

[edit] Who may request records?

See also: List of who can make public record requests by state.

Anyone may request public documents in Illinois. All "persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government". 5 ILCS 140(2)(b) defines a "person" as "any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, organization or association, acting individually or as a group."[5]

[edit] Must a requestor state a purpose?

5 ILCS 140(1) says that the Illinois FOIA law is not supposed to be used to:

  • Further a commercial enterprise.
  • Violate individual privacy.
  • Disrupt the day-to-day working of the public body.

This wording could be taken to imply that record custodians of public documents in the state have the right to ask a requestor why he or she wants the records, because the wording implies that a government agent has the right to deny records to someone whose purpose in obtaining the records is to use the records for commercial reasons, to violate someone's privacy or to disrupt the day-to-day working of the public body.

However, in 1997, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that this wording, since it is only in the preamble to the Illinois sunshine law, is a "declaration of policy" with "no substantive legal force".

In Family Life League v. Department of Public Aid, a 1986 decision of the Illinois Supreme Court, the court said that the Illinois FOIA law does not require that people requesting information under the act explain why they want it or what they plan to do with it.

There are five districts in the Illinois Appellate Court. Rulings in three of the districts agree that the purpose of the requestor is irrelevant.

[edit] How can records be used?

The law says that the law is not to be used to (a) further a commercial enterprise, (b) violate individual privacy or (c) disrupt the day-to-day working of the public body. However, the law makes no specific restrictions on ways that public documents can be used once someone has obtained the documents.

[edit] Time allowed for response

See also Request response times by state

Government agencies must either comply with or deny a written request for public records within seven working days after receiving it.

Under 5 ILCS 140/3(d), the 7-working-day time limit can be extended under these circumstances:

  • If the requested records are stored in whole or in part at other locations than the office having charge of the requested records;
  • If the request requires the collection of a substantial number of specified records;
  • If the request is couched in categorical terms and requires an extensive search for the records responsive to it;
  • If the requested records have not been located in the course of routine search and additional efforts are being made to locate them;
  • If the requested records require examination and evaluation by personnel having the necessary competence and discretion to determine if they are exempt from disclosure under the exemption provisions of the Act or should be revealed only with appropriate deletions;
  • If the request for records cannot be complied with by the public body within the 7-working-days time limit without unduly burdening or interfering with the operations of the public body;
  • If there is a need for consultation, which must be conducted with all practicable speed, with another public body or among two or more components of a public body having a substantial interest in the determination or in the subject matter of the request.

[edit] Fees for records

Government agencies are allowed to set fees that are "reasonably calculated to reimburse its actual cost for reproducing and certifying public records and for the use, by any person, of the equipment of the public body to copy records."

Also:

  • "Such fees shall exclude the costs of any search for and review of the record." (See Sunshine laws and search fees).
  • The fees "shall not exceed the actual cost of reproduction and certification, unless otherwise provided by State statute."
  • "Such fees shall be imposed according to a standard scale of fees, established and made public by the body imposing them."
  • The law doesn't say anything about whether fees must be paid in advance, leaving specific agencies free to set their own policies with regard to the timing of payments.
  • If any agency is found to have purposefully imposed a fee that is inconsistent with the law, this imposition is to be considered a denial of the request for purposes of judicial review.

The governing statute is 5 ILCS 140/6, from Ch. 116, par. 206.

[edit] For internet access

In 2000, the Illinois Attorney General issued an opinion that said that if county recorders place public information on a website, they are not allowed to charge a fee for access to those online records.

[edit] Fee waivers

Government agencies are required to waive or reduce the fee under these conditions:

  • If a request for documents states the specific purpose for the request.
  • If the request indicates that a waiver or reduction of fees is in the public interest.
  • A request is thought to be in "the public interest" if the principal purpose of the request is to access and disseminate information regarding the health, safety and welfare or the legal rights of the general public, and not principally for personal or commercial benefit.

It is up to the public body itself to determine whether a particular request meets these conditions.

[edit] Proposals for reform

Main article: Proposed reforms in state sunshine laws, 2009

House Bill 1345 [6] would amend the Illinois Freedom of Information Act to include settlement financial information that a public body might enter into. HB1345 was referred to the Rules Committee on 2/18/09.

House Bill 1370 [7] seeks to overhaul the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. The bill:

  • Makes it clear that access to public records improves government transparency.
  • Protects employees from retaliation from their superiors for releasing public information.
  • Permits attorney fees to be paid when access issues go to court.
  • Creates a fine from $100 to $1,000 for government agencies found to have "willfully and intentionally" failed to comply with the law.
  • Shortens the required response time from seven days to five.
  • Makes the first 25 pages of copies free, and sets a fee of $0.15 per page for any copies after that.
  • Specifies that records should be provided electronically if possible.

HB1370 is sponsored by Michael J. Madigan, Barbara Flynn Currie, Jim Watson, Paul D. Froehlich. Attorney General Lisa Madigan is pushing for it's passage. [8]

Transparency advocates in Illinois have called for reforms in the Illinois FOIA. In November 2008, the State Journal-Register asked in an editorial, "How many stories have to be written about Illinois’ broken Freedom of Information Act before Attorney General Lisa Madigan proposes an overhaul?"

The newspaper cited as areas for reform:

  • Limits on how much public agencies can charge for records.
  • Ending a practice whereby those who request records are charged less if they cite the Illinois FOIA law in their request, versus those who do not cite the law in their request. The newspaper cites a case where mention of the law gains a requestor a 94% reduction in fees.
  • Curtailing the practice of requiring groups to get court orders to obtain public records.
  • "The General Assembly has gummed up the FOIA law with so many exemptions, it’s nearly impossible to interpret with any clarity which records are subject to it."
  • "It’s been six years since Madigan campaigned on a promise to reform the law. It’s been 19 months since this newspaper’s award-winning series, 'Request Denied,' showed how the public — not just pesky newspaper reporters — is not being served by a toothless and loophole-laden law. It’s been 14 months since Madigan told the Illinois Press Association, 'Let me be clear: I am committed to legislatively reforming the Freedom of Information Act.'"[9]

[edit] Fines

On February 23, 2009, the Springfield State Journal-Register editorialized in favor of altering the law to impose fines on government officials who willfully evade its requirements. They wrote, "Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s idea to impose fines on Illinois governments that do not follow the state’s Freedom of Information law must be the first priority in any rewrite of the law."[10]

[edit] Open meetings

"The intent of the Illinois Open Meetings Act is to ensure that public business is conducted in public view by prohibiting secret deliberations and actions on matters that should be discussed in a public forum."[11]

[edit] Relevant legal cases

See also: Court cases with an impact on state FOIA

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Illinois Code (5 ILCS 140/1)
  2. ↑ Integrity Index available for download here
  3. ↑ Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, 2007
  4. ↑ Freedom of Information in the USA, 2002
  5. ↑ Illinois Compiled Statutes, 5 ILCS 140/
  6. ↑ Text of HB1345
  7. ↑ Text & Status of HB1370
  8. ↑ Attorney general aiming for 'culture of openness', Galesburg.com, March 5, 2009
  9. ↑ State Journal-Register, "Our Opinion: FOIA needs reform -- now", November 12, 2008
  10. ↑ Springfield State Journal-Register, "Our Opinion: Make fines key part of FOIA fix", February 23, 2009
  11. ↑ Illinois Attorney General website
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