The Illinois Public Access Counselor (PAC) recently issued two non-binding opinions concerning the applicability of Open Meetings Act (OMA) requirements to board committees....more
The Illinois Appellate Court recently ruled that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) does not obligate a public body to produce records that it does not already maintain in response to a FOIA request. Further, the Court...more
Recently, the Public Access Counselor (PAC) issued a binding opinion concerning the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In the decision, the PAC upholds a school’s decision to utilize the Section 7(1)(f) (predecisional)...more
Recently, the Public Access Counselor (PAC) issued two non-binding opinions concerning the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), both upholding school district decisions to exert exemptions and withhold key documents under the...more
The Illinois Appellate Court recently issued a new decision regarding the FOIA. In Kraft v. Chicago Police Department, the Court ruled in favor of the police department, finding it properly exempted records as unduly...more
The PAC recently released its second binding opinion of 2022, which provides helpful analysis and guidance regarding the personal and pre-decisional exemptions under the FOIA. The PAC determined that the City of Chicago...more
In its first binding opinion of the year, the Public Access Counselor (PAC) provides further clarity to the attorney-client privilege exemption under Section 7(1)(m) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Specifically, the...more
Recently, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a decision regarding the FOIA, upholding a public body’s redaction of traffic accident reports pursuant to Sections 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(c) of the FOIA....more
Two recent Illinois Appellate Court opinions provide public bodies clarity regarding the pre-decisional, attorney-client, and security measures exemptions of the FOIA. In the first case, Chicago Public Media v. Cook County...more
The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor recently issued a binding opinion holding that the Illinois Freedom of Information Act exemption for predecisional records does not apply to communications from a public...more
PRE-DECISIONAL & DELIBERATIVE PROCESS UPDATES U.S. -
SUPREME COURT DECISION -
On March 4, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in United States Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club addressing the “deliberative...more
4/20/2021
/ Attorney's Fees ,
FOIA ,
Open Meetings Act ,
Police Reports ,
Public Access Laws ,
Public Entities ,
Public Meetings ,
Public Records ,
Public Schools ,
Reasonableness Factors ,
Sexual Assault
In a rare binding opinion, the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC) opined that certain information in the sole possession of a vendor that had contracted with the Illinois Department of Corrections...more
8/18/2020
/ Department of Corrections ,
Exemptions ,
FOIA ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
PACs ,
Proprietary Information ,
Public Access Laws ,
Public Records ,
Request For Information ,
Third-Party ,
Trade Secrets
Last week, the Illinois Appellate Court issued three separate opinions addressing the scope of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The opinions provide additional guidance related to what constitutes a reasonable...more
8/12/2020
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Email ,
Failure to Comply ,
FOIA ,
Mobile Devices ,
Murder ,
Public Access Laws ,
Public Records ,
Request for Production ,
School Districts ,
Search & Seizure ,
Text Messages
A recent informal Illinois Attorney General Public Access Counselor decision interpreting the Freedom of Information Act is an important reminder that redacting student names from public records is not always sufficient to...more
“FOIA is a record access law, not a record retention law.” We have all said it, the statute supports it, and no court has held otherwise. A recent opinion from the Illinois Attorney General Public Access Counselor calls that...more
A recent Illinois Appellate Court decision raises interesting questions about how provisions protecting “private information” in open records laws should be interpreted in a world in which a vast wealth of information about...more
2/3/2020
/ Appeals ,
Disclosure ,
Educational Institutions ,
FAFSA ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Financial Aid ,
FOIA ,
Grants ,
Public Access Laws ,
Public Records ,
Request For Information ,
Student Privacy
In a recent decision, the Illinois Appellate Court held that the nonexistence of requested documents is an affirmative defense to a complaint grounded in the Freedom of Information Act. The court also clarified that public...more
Since a 2013 Illinois Appellate Court decision, City of Champaign v. Madigan, Illinois public bodies have known that three categories of emails and text messages sent to or from personal technology devices are “public...more
A recent Illinois Appellate Court decision provides welcome support to a school district or other public body faced with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that is more akin to a “fishing expedition” than a targeted...more
Recently, an Illinois Court of Appeals issued a decision mandating disclosure of assessment records from the Cook County Assessor’s Office to the Chicago Tribune under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”)....more
7/17/2018
/ Appeals ,
Exemptions ,
FOIA ,
Property Tax ,
Property Valuation ,
Public Access Laws ,
Public Records ,
Real Estate Market ,
Request For Information ,
State and Local Government ,
Tax Assessment ,
Taxation
Recently the Second District Appellate Court issued an opinion holding that the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) applied to certain records in the possession of the College of DuPage Foundation, a 501(c)(3) entity...more
An Illinois Appellate Court has further limited the public records that a public body can withhold from disclosure under Section 7(1)(n) of the Freedom of Information Act, which exempts “records relating to a public body’s...more
The Appellate Court of Illinois (First District) recently issued an opinion clarifying how a public body can waive the Freedom of Information Act protection for predecisional records....more
The Illinois courts and the Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (“PAC”) issued a flurry of decisions in May and June relating to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) and the Illinois Open Meetings Act...more