FOIA section 2(c)
FOIA5 ILCS 140/2(c). Section 2 overview: Defines the Act's key terms: what counts as a “public body” (state agencies, counties, cities, school districts, and their subcommittees), who counts as a “requester,” what a “public record” is, what makes a request a “commercial purpose” or “recurrent” request (which get different response rules), and other terms used throughout the Act.
19 issues across 17 determination letters:5 violation found · 13 no violation · 1 no determination / resolved.
Counts are per issue, not per letter, and come from automated extraction checked against sampled letters. Determination letters are not binding precedent.
Authorities the Bureau cites most on this issue
- City of Champaign v. Madigan, 2013 IL App (4th) 120662 cited 8 times
- Chicago Tribune Co. v. Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, 2014 IL App (4th) 130427 cited 5 times
- Kenyon v. Garrels, 184 Ill. App. 3d 28 (4th Dist. 1989) cited 5 times
- Hites v. Waubonsee Community College, 2016 IL App (2d) 150836 cited 4 times
- Police officers' personal emails about a case (Pub. Acc. Op. No. 16-006) cited 4 times
- City council members' electronic communications during meetings (Pub. Acc. Op. No. 11-006) cited 3 times
- Martinez v. Cook County State's Attorney's Office, 2018 IL App (1st) 163153 cited 2 times
- A custom data report from a school district's software vendor (PAC Req. Rev. Ltr. 78983) cited 1 times
How to challenge a denial on this issue
AI-generated summary of the decisions listed on this page, with each point linked to the letters it comes from. Determination letters are not binding precedent and this is not legal advice. Open the letter and check the PDF before relying on any point.
When a challenge is strong
- The public body claims that extracting data from an existing database would create a new record, but the data can be retrieved by running simple queries that the database already supports. FOIA requires disclosure of existing data that can be extracted with routine database queries; producing such data is not creating a new record.Based on: n.d. · Property assessment documentation…
- The public body has not searched officials' personal email accounts or mobile devices for messages related to public business, and responsive texts or emails are known to exist. Text messages and emails concerning public business, even if sent or stored on personal devices, are public records, and the body must search those accounts and devices upon request.Based on: n.d. · Library trustees' communications … · n.d. · A mayor's text messages with city…
- Electronic communications were sent or received by a member of the public body during a public meeting and those communications relate to the business being conducted. Such communications qualify as public records under FOIA because they pertain to public business and involve a public official acting in their capacity during a meeting.Based on: n.d. · Park district officials' communic…
- The public body withholds portions of aggregated documents (e.g., agenda packets) as non-responsive, but those portions actually relate to the request. Records must be liberally classified as responsive; isolated records within a larger document that connect to the request cannot be dismissed simply because they are part of a compilation.Based on: n.d. · Records concerning a specific pro…
When the public body usually wins
- The request asks for general data, statistics, or answers to questions instead of identifying an existing record by type, subject, date, or other descriptive criteria. FOIA requires a request to reasonably identify a public record, not to demand data compilation or to pose questions. The body need not create a record or answer questions.Based on: n.d. · Police daily body-camera usage st… · n.d. · Questions about internal procedur… · n.d. · Website usage data from office co…
- The sought records involve purely private affairs – condolences to families of employees, private outside consulting emails, or personal discussions unrelated to public duties. A communication must pertaining to the transaction of public business to be a public record. Purely private messages are not subject to FOIA.Based on: n.d. · College records of employee berea… · n.d. · Emails from a professor's univers… · n.d. · A mayor's text messages with publ…
- The request would compel the public body to create a new record, such as combining data from separate databases, generating reports that require subjective analysis, or producing documents it does not already maintain. FOIA does not require a public body to create a new record. Compilation, manipulation, or generation of records not already in existence falls outside the duty to disclose.Based on: n.d. · Property assessment documentation… · n.d. · Metadata compilation of electroni… · n.d. · A public official's personal poli…
- The public body's search for records is challenged, but the body demonstrably asked officials in good faith about personal accounts and devices, and did not search every conceivable system or obtain records from former employees' personal accounts. An adequate search need only be reasonable; it does not require searching every record system or retrieving records from individuals no longer with the body.Based on: n.d. · A board member's personal cell ph… · n.d. · Investigative files and schedules…
Points to put in your letter
- If the body says fulfilling the request would require creating a new record, point out that FOIA allows extracting existing data with simple database queries – producing a report from data already sitting in a database is not creation (D1042.2).Based on: n.d. · Property assessment documentation…
- When the body has withheld text messages or emails claiming they are on personal devices, cite that the Bureau has found such communications are public records if they concern public business, and the body must search those accounts (D977.1, D971.1).Based on: n.d. · Library trustees' communications … · n.d. · A mayor's text messages with city…
- If communications during a public meeting are denied, cite the decision that electronic messages sent by members during a meeting and about public business are public records (D941.2).Based on: n.d. · Park district officials' communic…
- When parts of an aggregated document are withheld as non-responsive, insist that each discrete record within it be liberally reviewed – if any part relates to your request, it should be released (D1004.2).Based on: n.d. · Records concerning a specific pro…
- If the body claims your request is invalid because it asks for data or answers, reframe it to identify specific records (e.g., 'emails between X and Y from date to date about Z') to show you are seeking existing records, not asking questions (D1072.1, D1059.1).Based on: n.d. · Police daily body-camera usage st… · n.d. · Questions about internal procedur…
Common mistakes
- Phrasing the request as a question or a demand for statistics instead of describing existing records (e.g., 'How many times did...?'). This will be denied because FOIA does not require answering questions or compiling data.Based on: n.d. · Police daily body-camera usage st… · n.d. · Questions about internal procedur… · n.d. · Questions about police background…
- Assuming that any message on a personal device or any page on a government-related social media account is automatically a public record. The Bureau requires the communication to pertain to the transaction of public business.Based on: n.d. · A mayor's text messages with publ… · n.d. · A public official's personal poli… · n.d. · A public official's personal poli…
- Demanding that the public body create a new document by combining data from different systems or generating reports it does not normally produce. FOIA does not compel creation of new records.Based on: n.d. · Metadata compilation of electroni… · n.d. · Property assessment documentation… · n.d. · Website usage data from office co…
- Assuming the public body must search every possible electronic repository or obtain records from former employees' personal accounts. The duty is to conduct a reasonable search; a good-faith inquiry of officials may suffice.Based on: n.d. · A board member's personal cell ph… · n.d. · Investigative files and schedules…
Facts to gather first
- Whether the information can be extracted by an existing database query or report function (e.g., screen shots of query options, data fields).
- Names of officials who may have used personal devices, the approximate date range, and the subject matter showing the communications pertain to public business.
- Evidence that communications occurred during a specific meeting (agenda item, time, identity of sender/recipient) and the topic related to public business.
- A clear description of the exact records sought, not just the topic – format, approximate date, sender/recipient, and subject matter.
These notes are based on non-binding determination letters and only reflect the specific facts of those cases; each situation depends on its own facts, and verifying the actual PDF decisions is essential before relying on any point.
Drafting brief for an AI assistant
Copy this into your assistant to help draft a request, appeal, or challenge to a denial that turns on this issue. It carries the rules and decisions, not your facts: add those yourself. Machine-readable version: foia-2-c.json.
Violation found (5)
Denial of Visual PAMSPro Audit Trail and Hot Sheet
Rule: FOIA requires disclosure of existing data in a public body's database that can be extracted by running simple queries, even if a report has not been run before, because it does not require creating a new record.
Violation found Property assessment documentation and calculations · March 26, 2025
Responsiveness of agenda packets and permit copies
Rule: Records must be liberally construed as responsive, but discrete records within aggregated documents that do not relate to the request are not responsive.
Violation found Records concerning a specific property address · July 20, 2023
Adequacy of search for records on personal accounts and devices
Rule: A public body must search personal accounts and devices of officials for records pertaining to public business, not just those involving a quorum or during meetings.
Violation found Library trustees' communications via personal accounts · May 17, 2022
Whether redacted text messages are public records
Rule: Text messages pertaining to public business are public records regardless of whether a personal device was used.
Violation found A mayor's text messages with city officials · March 23, 2022
Whether commissioner's text messages are public records
Rule: Electronic communications sent or received by a public body member during a meeting and pertaining to public business are public records subject to FOIA.
Violation found Park district officials' communications about district business · January 16, 2020
No violation (13)
Whether condolence and memorial records are public records
Rule: Records expressing condolences about employee family member deaths pertain to private affairs, not the transaction of public business, and are not public records under FOIA.
No violation College records of employee bereavement acknowledgments · August 8, 2025
Adequacy of District's search for responsive records
Rule: A public body may fulfill its duty to conduct a reasonable search by asking officials in good faith whether their personal accounts or devices contain responsive records.
No violation A board member's personal cell phone communications during a meeting · February 28, 2025
Request sought general data, not identifiable public records
Rule: FOIA requires a request to reasonably identify a public record, not general data, information, or statistics, and a public body need not answer questions or generate new records.
No violation Police daily body-camera usage statistics for a specific date · July 11, 2024
FOIA request asking questions rather than records
Rule: FOIA applies only to existing public records; a public body need not answer questions or compile data scattered across records.
No violation Questions about internal procedures and legal definitions · July 1, 2024
Denial of Visual PAMSPro Comparables and Land Valuation reports
Rule: FOIA does not require a public body to create new records, such as a Comparables report requiring subjective judgment or Land Valuation reports for methods not used by the body.
No violation Property assessment documentation and calculations · March 26, 2025
Redacted text messages as non-public records
Rule: A communication must pertain to public business to be a public record; purely private matters are not subject to FOIA disclosure.
No violation A mayor's text messages with public officials · May 5, 2023
Creation of new record by compiling data from separate databases
Rule: FOIA does not require a public body to compile or manipulate data from separate databases into a new record.
No violation Metadata compilation of electronic monitoring call recordings · August 23, 2024
Facebook page records as public records
Rule: Records must pertain to the transaction of public business and be prepared by, for, used by, received by, possessed by, or controlled by a public body to be public records.
No violation A public official's personal political Facebook page · February 10, 2021
Blocked accounts list as public record
Rule: A list of blocked accounts from a political Facebook page not maintained by the County is not a public record subject to FOIA.
No violation A public official's personal political Facebook page · February 10, 2021
Dates and times of phone calls
Rule: A public body is not required to answer questions or generate new records in response to a FOIA request.
No violation Selective enrollment test data and phone call logs · November 18, 2020
Whether professor's emails are public records
Rule: Emails on a university email address about private outside consulting do not pertain to public business and are not public records.
No violation Emails from a professor's university account · February 15, 2018
Adequacy of sheriff's office search for responsive records
Rule: A public body must conduct a reasonable search, but need not search every record system or obtain records from a former employee's personal accounts.
No violation Investigative files and schedules of a former deputy sheriff · August 10, 2017
Request for general data not public record
Rule: A FOIA request must reasonably identify a public record; it cannot demand general data or require the public body to compile or create new records.
No violation Website usage data from office computers · April 12, 2018
No determination / resolved (1)
Whether requester's submission was a valid FOIA request
Rule: FOIA requires a request to reasonably identify existing public records, not to answer questions or create new records.
No determination / resolved Questions about police background-search practices · March 14, 2024