CHAPTER 15 

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION POLICY 

 

 

 15-1-1 DEFINITIONS. For the purposes of this Chapter the following 
definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different 
meaning. 

 “Copying”. The reproduction of any public record by means of any 
photographic, electronic, mechanical, or other process, device or means. 

 “Freedom of Information Act”. The Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 
Sec. 140/1.1 et seq. 

“Person”. Any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, organization, or 
association, acting individually or as a group. 

 “Public Record”. All records, reports, forms, writings, letters, memorandums, 
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 or being prepared, used, 
received, possessed, or under control of the City. 

 

 

 15-1-2 POLICY. It is declared to be the public policy of the City that all 
persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of the City. 
The official acts and policies of the public officials and public employees of the City shall 
be consistent with the terms of this Chapter. 

 

 

 15-1-3 INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY PROTECTED. This Chapter is not 
intended to be used to violate individual policy, nor for the purpose of furthering a 
commercial enterprise, or to disrupt the duly undertaken work of the City. 

 

 

 15-1-4 PUBLIC RECORDS AVAILABLE. The City shall make available to 
any person for inspection or copying all public records, as provided in the Freedom of 
Information Act. 

 

 

 15-1-5 REQUESTS TO BE IN WRITING. All requests for inspection or 
copying of public records shall be in writing and shall be addressed to the Clerk. The 
requestor shall include the following information in any request for public records: 

 (A) The requestor’s full name, mailing address and telephone number 
at which the requestor can be reached during normal business hours; 


 (B) A description of the records sought, being as specific as possible; 

 (C) A statement as to whether the request is for inspection, copying, or 
both. 

 The Clerk shall make available a form for use by requestors; however, no 
request shall be denied for failure to use the form. 

 

 

 15-1-6 FEES. 

 (A) The City hereby establishes and shall charge fees 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 City to copy records. Such fees 
exclude the costs of any search for and review of the record, and shall not exceed the 
actual cost of reproduction and certification, unless otherwise provided by state statute. 
The charge for copying shall be Twenty-Five Cents ($0.25) per page for photocopies, 
Twenty-Five Cents ($0.25) per page for computer printouts, and Five Dollars ($5.00) 
per audio tape. In the event materials must be reproduced by copy services or by the 
City Engineer (e.g., large plan sheets), the requestor shall be responsible for the actual 
charges. 

 (B) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a reduced 
charge where the City determines that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public 
interest because furnishing information can be considered as primarily benefiting the 
general public. Waiver or reduction of the fee is 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 is not for the principal 
purpose of personal or commercial benefit. In setting the amount of the waiver or 
reduction, the City may take into consideration the amount of materials requested and 
the cost of copying them. 

 

 

 15-1-7 TIME LIMIT FOR COMPLIANCE WITH REQUEST. The City shall 
either comply with or deny a request for public records within seven (7) working days 
after its receipt. Denials shall be in writing and in accordance with Section 15-1-11. 

 

 

 15-1-8 EXTENSION OF TIME LIMIT; NOTICE. 

 (A) The time limit prescribed in Section 15-1-7 may be extended in 
each case for not more than seven (7) additional working days for any of the following 
reasons: 

(1) The requested records are stored in whole or in part at other 
locations other than the office having charge of the 
requested records. 


(2) The request requires the collection of a substantial number 
of specified records. 

(3) The request is couched in categorical terms and requires an 
extensive search for the records responsive to it. 

(4) 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 terms of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act or 
should be revealed only with appropriate deletions. 

(5) The request for records cannot be complied with by the City 
within the time limits prescribed by the foregoing paragraph 
without unduly burdening or interfering with the City. 

(6) The requested records have not been located in the 
course of routine search and additional efforts are being 
made to locate them. 

(7) There is a need for consultation, which shall be conducted 
with all practicable speed, with another public body or 
among two (2) or more components of a public body having 
a substantial interest in the determination or in the subject 
matter of the request. 

 (B) When additional time is required for any of the above reasons, the 
Clerk shall notify the person making the request, by letter, within the time limits specified 
in this Section, of the reasons for the delay and the date by which the records will be 
made available or denial will be forthcoming. In no instance may the delay in 
processing last longer than seven (7) working days. A failure to render a decision 
within seven (7) working days shall be considered a denial of the request. 

 

 

 15-1-9 UNDULY BURDENSOME REQUEST. 

 (A) Requests calling for all records falling within a category shall be 
complied with unless compliance with the request would be unduly burdensome for the 
City, there is no method of narrowing the request, and the burden on the City strongly 
outweighs the public interest in the information. If the City responds to a categorical 
request by stating that compliance would unduly burden its operation, it shall do so in a 
writing signed by the Clerk specifying the reasons why it would be unduly burdensome 
and the extent to which compliance will so burden the operation of the City. 

 (B) After receipt of this response in writing, the person making the 
request shall have an opportunity to reduce the request to manageable proportions. If 
the person making the request fails to reduce the request to manageable proportions, 
the response of the City shall be treated as a denial of the request information. 


 15-1-10 CERTAIN INFORMATION EXEMPT FROM INSPECTION AND 
COPYING. Information exempted by 5 ILCS Sec. 140/7 of the Freedom of Information 
Act shall be exempt from inspection and copying. If a record contains both exempt and 
nonexempt information, the exempt information shall be deleted and the remainder of 
the record made available for inspection and copying. 

 

 

 15-1-11 NOTICE OF DENIAL OF REQUEST; APPEALS. 

 (A) The Clerk, when denying a request for public record, shall notify the 
requestor, by letter, of the decision to deny the information, and the reason for the 
denial. Each notice of denial by the Clerk shall inform the person of his or her right to 
appeal to the Mayor in accordance with 5 ILCS Sec. 140/10 of the Freedom of 
Information Act. When a request is denied on the grounds that the records are exempt 
under the provisions of this Chapter, the notice of denial shall specify the exemption 
claimed to authorize the denial and briefly explain how the exemption applies to the 
specified records withheld. 

 (B) A requestor may appeal a denial of a request for public records to 
the Mayor. All appeals shall be in writing, shall be addressed to the Mayor in an 
envelope clearly marked “FOIA APPEAL”, and shall include a copy of the original 
request, a copy of the denial or a statement that the City failed to respond within seven 
(7) working days; and a written statement setting forth the reasons the requestor 
believes the appeal should be granted. 

 (C) The Mayor shall respond in writing to an appeal within seven (7) 
working days of receipt thereof. Failure to respond shall be considered a denial of the 
appeal. If the Mayor denies an appeal in whole or in part, the requestor shall be 
informed of his or her rights to judicial review under 5 ILCS Sec. 140/11 of the Freedom 
of Information Act. 

 

 

 15-1-12 GRANTING OF REQUEST; PROCEDURE FOR INSPECTION. 
When a freedom of information request is granted, the documents will be made 
available for inspection at the City Hall during regular business hours. Copies shall be 
made upon request as set forth in Section 15-1-6. 

 

 

 15-1-13 WRITTEN REQUEST NOT REQUIRED FOR CERTAIN 
DOCUMENTS. The following documents shall be made available for inspection and 
copying without a written request; however, the requestor shall contact the Clerk or 
Deputy Clerk in advance to set a mutually convenient time. These documents, if 
copied, shall be subject to the copying fee set forth in Section 15-1-6. 

 (A) Ordinances and written resolutions. 

 (B) The journal of the City Council, not including executive session 
minutes. 


 (C) Any personnel code, building code, other technical code, or any 
other regulation of the City adopted by the City, whether by ordinance, resolution or 
otherwise. 

 

 

 15-1-14 DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ABOUT PUBLIC BODIES. 
The City shall prominently display at the City Hall, make available for inspection and 
copying without charge, and shall send through the mail if requested, each of the 
following: 

 (A) A brief description of itself, which will include, but not be limited to a 
short summary of its purpose, a block diagram giving its functional subdivisions, the 
total amount of its operating budget, the number and location of all of its separate 
offices, the approximate number of full and part-time employees, and the identification 
and membership of any board, commission, committee, or council which operates in an 
advisory capacity relative to the operation of the public body is required to report and be 
answerable for its operations; and 

 (B) A brief description of the methods whereby the public may request 
information and public records, a directory designating by titles and business addresses 
those employees to whom requests for public records should be directed, and any fees 
allowable under Section 15-1-6. 

 

 

 15-1-15 LIST OF CATEGORIES OF RECORDS. As to public records 
prepared or received after the effective date of this Chapter, the City Clerk shall 
maintain and make available for inspection and copying a reasonably current list of all 
types or categories of records under its control. The list shall be reasonably detailed in 
order to aid persons in obtaining access to public records pursuant to this Chapter. The 
City Clerk shall furnish upon request a description of the manner in which public records 
stored by means of electronic data processing may be obtained in a form 
comprehensible to persons lacking knowledge of computer language or printout format.