FOIA

Your letter should include your name, your address, the date and a daytime phone number so that the public body can contact you if they have any questions. Describe the information you are seeking with sufficient detail so that the public body can find the requested records. Providing as much information as possible in your request on the subject matter may expedite the public body’s search process.

You do not need to describe the document specifically and accurately by the same name the Will County ROE uses. As long as the Will County ROE understands what is being requested, they must release that information, even if the requester does not call it by the same name the Will County ROE uses.

The Will County ROE cannot require that the public submit FOIA requests on a specific form or in a specific format. The ROE can require that FOIA requests be submitted in writing.

For black and white, letter or legal sized copies, the first 50 pages are free, unless a different fee is otherwise fixed by statute. Any additional pages beyond 50 will be charged at 15 cents per copy. Color and oversized copies will be charged the actual cost of copying.

The ROE will provide available information when requested by the public. Information provided or denied under the FOIA, however, must conform to the legal requirements under the Act. It may also be denied if it falls within a category under Sec. 3 of the Freedom of Information Act.

When the ROE denies a request for public records, the ROE must, within five (5) working days, or within any extended compliance period provided for in the Act, notify the person who made the request, by letter, of the decision to deny the request. The letter must explain the reasons for the denial, and give the names and titles of all persons responsible for the denial.

Please be as specific as possible when describing the records you are seeking. Remember, the Freedom of Information Act is designed to allow you to inspect or receive copies of records. It is not designed to require a public body to answer questions. To the extent that you wish to ask questions of a representative of the Regional Office of Education, you may call our Will County Office at (815) 462-5400.

All written requests shall be responded to within five (5) working days (5 ILCS/140/3) following the date the request is received, except in the instance when the request is for commercial purposes (within 21 working days). The five day count begins the day after receipt of the request. The requestor will be notified of a five day extension (working days) if the files are voluminous, at different locations, or if other reasons make it impossible to assemble and mail the request out within the normal five day period.