Ill. Admin. Code tit. 2, § 726.425 - Requests for Review of Denials - Public Access Counselor
a)
A person whose request to inspect
or copy a record is denied by the Agency 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 Agency.
(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 Agency 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 Agency properly determined that the request was made for a commercial
purpose. (Section 9.5(b) of FOIA)
c)
Within 7 business days after the
Agency receives a request for review from the Public Access Counselor, the
Agency 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 Agency 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 Agency. (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 Agency 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 Agency,
subject to administrative review under Section
726.435.
(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 Agency will either take
necessary action immediately to comply with the directive of the opinion or
shall initiate administrative review under Section 726.435. If
the opinion concludes that no violation of FOIA has occurred, the requester may
initiate administrative review under Section 726.435. (Section 9.5(f)
of FOIA)
j)
If the Agency
discloses records in accordance with an opinion of the Attorney General, the
Agency 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
726.430
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 Agency regarding compliance with FOIA. A review
may be initiated upon receipt of a written request from the Director
of the Agency or the Agency'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 Agency in order to
assist in the review. If the Agency relies in good faith on an advisory opinion
of the Attorney General in responding to a request, the Agency 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.