Ill. Admin. Code tit. 2, § 5176.425 - Requests for Review of Denials - Public Access Counselor
a)
A person whose request to inspect
or copy a record is denied by the Board may file a request for review with the
Public Access Counselor established in the Office of the Attorney General not
later than 60 days after the date of the final denial. The request for review
shall be in writing, be signed by the requester, and include a copy of the
request for access to records and any response from the Board.
(Section 9.5(a) of FOIA)
b)
A person whose request to inspect or copy a record is made for a
commercial purpose may not file a request for review with the Public Access
Counselor. A person whose request to inspect or copy a record was treated by
the Board as a request for a commercial purpose may file a request for review
with the Public Access Counselor for the limited purpose of reviewing whether
the Board properly determined that the request was made for a commercial
purpose. (Section 9.5(b) of FOIA)
c)
Within 7 business days after the
Board receives a request for review from the Public Access Counselor, the Board
shall provide copies of records requested and shall otherwise fully cooperate
with the Public Access Counselor. (Section 9.5(c) of FOIA)
d)
Within 7 business days after it
receives a copy of a request for review and request for production of records
from the Public Access Counselor, the Board may, but is not required to, answer
the allegations of the request for review. The answer may take the form of a
letter, brief, or memorandum. The Public Access Counselor shall forward a copy
of the answer to the person submitting the request for review, with any alleged
confidential information to which the request pertains redacted from the
copy. (Section 9.5(d) of FOIA)
e)
The requester may, but is not
required to, respond in writing to the answer within 7 business days and shall
provide a copy of the response to the Board. (Section 9.5(d) of
FOIA)
f)
In addition to the
request for review, and the answer and response to the request, if any, a
requester or the Board may furnish affidavits or records concerning any matter
germane to the review. (Section 9.5(e) of FOIA)
g)
A binding opinion from the
Attorney General shall be binding upon both the requester and the Board,
subject to administrative review under Section
5176.435. (Section 9.5(f) of
FOIA)
h)
If the Attorney
General decides to exercise his or her discretion to resolve a request for
review by mediation or by a means other than issuance of a binding opinion, the
decision not to issue a binding opinion shall not be reviewable.
(Section 9.5(f) of FOIA)
i)
Upon receipt of a binding opinion concluding that a violation of FOIA
has occurred, the Board will either take necessary action immediately to comply
with the directive of the opinion or shall initiate administrative review
under Section
5176.435. If the opinion
concludes that no violation of FOIA has occurred, the requester may initiate
administrative review under Section
5176.435. (Section 9.5(f) of
FOIA)
j)
If the Board
discloses records in accordance with an opinion of the Attorney General, the
Board is immune from all liabilities by reason thereof and shall not be liable
for penalties under FOIA. (Section 9.5(f) of FOIA)
k)
If the requester files suit
under Section
5176.430
with respect to
the same denial that is the subject of a pending request for review, the
requester shall notify the Public Access Counselor. (Section 9.5(g) of
FOIA)
l)
The Attorney
General may also issue advisory opinions to the Board regarding compliance with
FOIA. A review may be initiated upon receipt of a written request from
the Executive Director of the Board or the Board's Chief Legal
Counsel, which shall contain sufficient accurate facts from which a
determination can be made. The Public Access Counselor may request additional
information from the Board in order to assist in the review. If the Board
relies in good faith on an advisory opinion of the Attorney General in
responding to a request, the Board is not liable for penalties under FOIA, so
long as the facts upon which the opinion is based have been fully and fairly
disclosed to the Public Access Counselor. (Section 9.5(h) of
FOIA)
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.