|
| |
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
Purpose
The Illinois General Assembly enacted
Public Act 83-1013, the short title of which is the "Freedom of Information
Act," which took effect July 1, 1984. The purpose of the Act is to provide
the public with greater access to the records of public bodies. The Act
states that "all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding
the affairs of government and the official acts and policies of those who
represent them as public officials and public employees . . ." Within specified
limitations, the Act allows anyone to inspect and to obtain copies of all public
records prepared, possessed, used by, or in the control of any public body.
Anyone may obtain access to these documents, including individuals, groups,
associations, corporations, firms, partnerships and organizations.
Every public body subject to the Freedom of
Information Act must make their existing records available to the public. The
Act does not require these bodies to answer specific questions, create new
records, or keep a central library or index of all government records. If
you are not sure which public body has the information you seek, begin by
calling the public bodies with names or responsibilities related to your topic.
This may help you identify the appropriate source. Public bodies must have
a list of the types or categories of records in their possession. They must also
have a description of how to request a record and a directory of the employees
assigned to process disclosure requests for that body. If no one is available to
answer your questions over the telephone, the directory should be on display in
each administrative or regional office of the body. The list of records should
be available to be copied, and can be requested through the mail.
Return to top
Available Information
Village records available under the Act are orders,
rules, policy statements, planning policies and decisions, reports or studies,
public contracts, the names, titles and salaries of public employees, and the
voting records of the Village.
Return to top
Public Bodies Subject to the Act
The Village of Burr Ridge, a municipality, is
subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Other public bodies subject to the Act include any legislative, executive, administrative or advisory
bodies of the State; state universities and colleges; counties; school districts and all other boards,
bureaus, committees or commissions of the State; and any subsidiary bodies (such
as committees and subcommittees) that are supported by or expend tax revenue.
The judiciary is not subject to the Act, but court records and legal proceedings
are generally open to the public.
Return to top
How
to Make a Request
You may submit a request in person, orally, or
in writing to Village Hall during normal business hours Monday through Friday,
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Village Hall is located at 7660 S. County Line Road
and all Freedom of Information Act Requests shall be submitted to the Karen
Thomas, Village Clerk. If you have questions, Karen can be reached at
(630) 654-8181, extension 101. If you desire that any records be
certified, you must indicate that on your request. If you wish to inspect
records rather than copy them, you may do so in the Clerk's Office during normal
business hours, by scheduling an appointment with the Village Clerk. If
the Clerk is not available at the time of your request, an employee of the
Village acting under the direction of the Clerk can accept your request.
Requests can also be made by completing our
Freedom of Information Request, which can be downloaded by clicking
here. The form is in PDF format and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to
be opened. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat, click
here to download a copy.
If you wish to submit a letter requesting
information, remember to date your letter and keep a copy for your
records. We urge you to send your requests via certified mail and request
a return receipt so that you will have a record of the date on which your request
was received.
Remember to be specific in your
request. It should specify the records you wish to inspect, copy, or both.
If you request all records applicable to a general category, this may cause an
undue burden on the Village and cause a delay or refusal of your request.
For instance, if you seek information on a certain topic, but want to exclude some material
(for example, newspaper clippings or records created before or after a certain
date), you can ask that these be omitted. A specific request will avoid
confusion, burden and high copying fees. Under the act, you can request a
fee waiver or reduction if your disclosure request qualifies (see information
below), you may ask for a waiver. The Act gives the Village discretion
to grant fee waivers or reductions when disclosure is in the public interest.
Return to top
Possible Fees
The Act permits the Village to charge
reasonable fees to pay for copying costs or for the use of copying
equipment, but we may not charge for the time and effort of a search. The
schedule of fees charged is detailed below.
Burr Ridge Freedom of Information Request
Fees for Copying:
| $.18 per page (actual
cost) |
|
| $.10 per certificate
(actual cost) if the copies are to be certified |
|
Please Note: All charges are payable before
the material is released. Certain technical documents such as codes,
blueprints, zoning maps, etc. require special reproduction costs and will be
billed at the actual cost to the Village. You will be informed, if at all
possible, what the cost will be when you make your request.
Return to top
Fee Waiver or Reduction
The
Village may waive or reduce the fees if disclosure is in the public interest.
You might receive a waiver or reduction if (a) you are requesting information on
the health, safety and welfare or the legal rights of the general public, (b)
you plan to disseminate this information, and (c) you will not receive a
personal or commercial benefit from the disclosure of the documents. Ordinarily,
you do not have to explain why you want access to a public record, but to
qualify for a fee waiver or reduction, you should explain what you plan to do
with the information.
Return to top
Response to Requests
The Act states that the
Village has seven working days to respond to a request after
it is received. There are three types of responses: disclosure, delay and
denial.
Disclosure:
The Village is required to disclose all records in response to your
request unless an exemption provided by the act can be properly invoked. It is the
Village's burden to show the records are entitled to exemption.
Delay:
The Village may inform you, in writing, that your request requires an
additional 7 working days to respond to a request for any of the following
reasons:
-
The requested records
are stored in another location.
-
The request requires
the collection of a large number of records.
-
The request is
categorical in nature and requires an extensive search.
-
The
Village has
failed to locate the requested records in the initial search and the
search is continuing.
-
The requested records
require examination by a competent person in order to determine which, if
any, are exempt from disclosure under the Act or should be revealed only
with appropriate deletions.
-
It would unduly
burden or interfere with the operations of the Village to fill the
request within the initial 7 working days.
-
There is a need for
consultation with another public body which has a substantial interest in
the determination or in the subject matter of the request.
Denial:
Any denials will be made in writing and
include the names and titles of everyone responsible for the denial, a reason
for the denial, and information regarding the right to appeal. If the request is denied
under one or more of the Act's exemptions (see below), the letter will specify
which exemptions apply to the information denied.
-
Information specifically prohibited from
disclosure by federal or State law or rules and regulations adopted under
federal or State law.
-
Information that, if disclosed, would
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, unless the
disclosure is consented to in writing by the individual subjects of the
information. The disclosure of information that bears on the public
duties of public employees and officials shall not be considered an invasion
of personal privacy. Information not required to be disclosed includes:
-
Files and personnel information maintained with respect to clients,
patients, residents, students or other individuals receiving social,
medical, educational, vocational, financial, supervisory or custodial care
or services directly or indirectly from federal agencies or public bodies;
-
Personnel files and personal information maintained with respect to
employees, appointees or elected officials of the Village;
-
Files and personal information maintained with respect to any
applicant, registrant or licensee by the Village cooperating or
engaged in professional or occupational registration, licensure or
discipline;
-
Information required of any taxpayer in connection with the assessment
or collection of any tax unless disclosure is required by State statute;
and
-
Information revealing the identity of persons who file complaints with
or provide information to administrative, investigative, law enforcement
or penal agencies; except, in some cases, the identity of witnesses to
traffic accidents, traffic accident reports and rescue reports may be
disclosed.
-
Records compiled by the Village for administrative enforcement
proceedings and any law enforcement or correctional agency for law
enforcement purposes or for internal matters of the Village, when
disclosure would:
-
Interfere with pending or actually and reasonably contemplated law
enforcement proceedings conducted by the Village, any law enforcement or correctional
agency;
-
Interfere with pending administrative enforcement proceedings
conducted by the Village or any public body;
-
Deprive a person of a fair trial or an impartial hearing;
-
Unavoidably disclose the identity of a confidential source or
confidential information furnished only by the confidential source;
-
Disclose unique or specialized investigative techniques other than
those generally used and known, or disclose internal documents of
correctional agencies related to detection, observation or investigation
of crime or misconduct;
-
Constitute an invasion of personal privacy; endanger the life or
physical safety of law enforcement personnel or any other person; or
obstruct an ongoing criminal investigation.
-
Criminal history record information maintained by State or local
criminal justice agencies, except the following which shall be disclosed:
-
Chronologically maintained arrest information, such as traditional
arrest logs or blotters;
-
The name of a person in the custody of a law enforcement agency and
the charges for which that person is being held;
-
Court records that are public;
-
Records that are otherwise available under State or local law; or
-
Records in which the requesting party is the individual identified,
except when disclosure would endanger the life or physical safety of law
enforcement personnel or any other person.
-
Records that relate to or affect the security of correctional and
detention facilities.
-
Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, memoranda and other records
in which opinions are expressed, or policies or actions are formulated. A
specific record or relevant portion of a record shall not be exempt when the
record is publicly cited and identified by the Mayor. This
exemption extends to all records of officers and agencies of the
General Assembly that pertain to the preparation of legislative documents.
-
Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a
person or business where the trade secrets or information are proprietary,
privileged or confidential, or where disclosure of the trade secrets or
information may cause competitive harm.
-
Proposals and bids for any contract, grant or agreement, which if
disclosed would frustrate procurement or give an advantage to any person
proposing to enter into a contractor agreement with the Village, until an award
or final selection is made. Information prepared by or for the Village in
preparation of a bid solicitation shall be exempt until an award or final
selection is made.
-
Valuable formulae, designs, drawings and research data, when disclosure
could reasonably be expected to produce private gain or public loss.
-
Test questions, scoring keys or other examination data used to
administer an academic examination or to determine the qualifications of an
applicant for a license or employment.
-
Architects' plans and engineers' technical submissions for projects not
constructed or developed with public funds, and for projects constructed or
developed with public funds, to the extent that disclosure would compromise
security.
-
Library circulation and order records identifying library users with
specific materials.
-
Minutes of meetings of public bodies closed to the public as provided in
the Open Meetings Act.
-
Communications between the Village and an attorney or auditor
representing the Village that would not be subject to discovery in
litigation, and materials prepared or compiled by or for the Village in
anticipation of a criminal, civil or administrative proceeding on the
request of an attorney advising the Village, and materials prepared or
compiled with respect to internal audits.
-
Information received by a primary or secondary school, college or
university under its procedures for the evaluation of faculty members by
their academic peers.
-
Administrative or technical information associated with automated data
processing operations that, if disclosed, would jeopardize the security of
the system or its data.
-
Information or materials relating to collective negotiations between
the Village and its employees or representatives, except final contracts
or agreements.
-
Records pertaining to the financing and marketing transactions of the
Village, and the records of ownership, registration, transfer and
exchange of municipal debt obligations.
-
The records, documents and information relating to real estate purchase
negotiations until the negotiations are complete or otherwise terminated.
Records, documents and information relating to a parcel involved in a
pending, or actually and reasonably contemplated eminent domain proceeding,
shall be exempt except as allowed under litigation discovery rules. The
records, documents and information relating to a real estate sale are exempt
until the sale is consummated.
-
Proprietary information related to the operation of an intergovernmental
risk management association or self-insurance pool or jointly
self-administered health and accident cooperative or pool.
-
Information concerning a university's adjudication of grievance or
disciplinary cases, when disclosure would reveal the identity of the student
or employee, and information concerning any public body's adjudication of
student or employee grievance or disciplinary cases, except for the final
outcome of the cases.
-
Course materials or research materials used by faculty members.
-
Information related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices
of the Village.
-
Information contained in or related to examination, operating, or
condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of the Village
responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions or
insurance companies, unless disclosure is otherwise required by State law.
-
Information the disclosure of which is restricted under the Public
Utilities Act.
-
Manuals or instruction to staff that relate to establishment or
collection of liability for any State tax.
-
Certain records received or prepared by the Experimental Organ
Transplantation Procedures Board or its staff.
-
Insurance or self-insurance (including any intergovernmental risk
management association or self insurance pool) claims, loss or risk
management information.
-
Information held by the Department of Public Health and its authorized
representatives relating to known or suspected cases of sexually
transmissible disease.
-
Information the disclosure of which is exempted under the Radon
Mitigation Act.
-
Firm performance evaluations under the Architectural, Engineering, and
Land Surveying Qualifications Based Selection Act.
Return
to top
How to Make an Appeal
If your access to
information requested under the Act is denied by the Village, you may appeal
the denial to the Mayor. A letter to the Mayor begins the appeals process. In the letter, please specify the
records that were withheld and state why the denial was incorrect. The
Mayor will review the requested record within 7 working days,
determine whether the denial is proper under the Act and notify the you of
his/her
determination.
If the Mayor also denies you access, you may go to court for access to the records. To
appeal the decision of a State body, you must file a complaint in the circuit
court for the county where the State agency/organization/institution has its
principal office, or in your home county. To appeal the decision of the Village,
you must file in the county of the principal office of the Village (DuPage
County).
In court, the burden is on
the Village to prove that the material withheld is exempt under the Act, and the
court will review the decision without any deference to the Village's prior
decisions. In addition to access to the requested records, the court may award
reasonable fees for your attorney in cases where the withheld records are of
significant public interest and access has been denied without a reasonable
legal basis.
Return
to top
|
