What Illinois' new FOIA means to journalists

DeKalb – Illinois’ newly revised Freedom of Information Act represents better access for journalists to serve their communities, two experts told the NINA Spring Conference audience April 23.

Cara Smith, public access counselor for the Illinois Attorney General, spoke of her office’s increased authority, and workload, since the new law took effect Jan. 1.

“Our phones never stop ringing,” she said. “It’s usually public bodies calling to ask for advice.”

Smith also conducts training sessions for public employees on how to handle FOIA requests. She’s been met with a hostile reception at nearly every session, she said – largely because the new law holds consequences for noncompliance.

In the past, she said, public officials could deny a request and dare the requester to sue them … which they knew was highly unlikely. Under the new law, a public body wishing to deny a FOIA request must get pre-authorization from the public access counselor.

“We have hundreds of requests,” Smith said. Decisions on pre-approvals are being posted to the attorney general’s website and, Smith hopes, soon will be used as precedents.

Her office also now has the authority to issue binding opinions on requests for denial – particularly, for the commonly tried “unwarranted invasion of privacy” exemption. To appeal such an opinion, the public body is required to file for administrative review in either Cook or Sangamon County.

“The threat of binding authority has been the most effective thing,” said the day’s second speaker, Terry Pastika, executive director of the Citizen Advocacy Center.

 

More provisions of the new FOIA law:

• Mandatory attorney’s fees will be charged to public bodies if a requester is denied, then goes to court and wins.
• Fines of $2,500 per occurrence will be leveled if the public body is determined to have acted willfully and wantonly.
• The response-time requirement for FOIA requests has dropped from seven working days to five.
• Copying fees are set: the first 50 pages are free; 15 cents a page for additional pages. Smith said some public bodies used to charge $1 a page, openly calling the practice “a disincentive.”
• The personnel-file exemption – which used to be a big dodge – no longer exists. Public bodies would throw anything and everything into a personnel file, whether it belonged there or not, and then claim exemption. Now, there’s a balancing test: Would disclosure violate personal privacy?
• The new FOIA applies to old documents, too, regardless of when they were created.
• If documents are maintained electronically, then they can be requested electronically, for the cost of a blank CD.

 Pastika mentioned several types of public information reporters could request, including:

 

• Documentation that supports press release information. Too often, she said, reporters rely on press releases alone and don’t look at the underlying stats.
• Lawsuits filed against public bodies.
• Full budgets – not just the synopses. Ask to see all funds and all line items.
• Attorney bills for public bodies.
• Cell phone bills, credit card bills and travel vouchers for public employees.
• Procurement records, bids received.
• Public officials’ contributions to other public officials’ campaigns.
• A list of FOIA requests to a public body – to see what others might be looking for.

Public-private economic development corporations are not subject to FOIA, Pastika said, but from municipalities reporters can request records of all communications with those corporations, plus documents and contracts. Articles of incorporation and tax filings also are obtainable.

 

For reporters dealing with tax increment financing (TIF) districts, Pastika suggested getting on the district’s Interested Parties Registry. It’s free and you’ll then be notified of anything going on regarding that TIF district.

 

Finally, watch for citizen referendums to be kicked off local election ballots by something called the Rule of Three, she said. Only three initiatives are allowed on any one ballot, and an initiative from a public body supersedes a citizen-initiative referendum. So, if bogus public initiatives show up on a ballot, journalists could FOIA for all initiatives proposed in the past months or years, to see what’s been kicked off.