FOIA section 3(b)

FOIA

5 ILCS 140/3(b). Section 3 overview: The Act's workhorse section: public bodies must make records available on request; requests can be submitted in writing by mail, personal delivery, fax, or other means the body accepts; and -- critically -- a body generally has 5 business days to comply or deny (extendable by 5 more business days in specific circumstances). This is the section most PAC disputes about late or incomplete responses turn on.

1 issue across 1 determination letter:1 violation found.

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 Determination letters are not binding precedent.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

A village's water meter records (Pub. Acc. Op. No. 10- 001) cited 1 times

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-3-b.json.

TOPIC: 5 ILCS 140/3(b)
SOURCE: Illinois Attorney General Public Access Bureau decisions compiled at https://illinoisfoia.org/issues/foia-3-b/
NOTE: Determination letters are not binding precedent; they show how the Bureau applies the law. Verify every decision against the source PDF before citing it.

VIOLATION FOUND (1):
- Data License Agreement as condition for access to records
  Rule: Section 3(b) requires public bodies to provide copies of non-exempt public records upon payment of fees; it does not allow a public body to impose a data license agreement as a condition of access.
  Decision: Records on gating Griffith Cave and Natural Heritage Database access (non-binding determination letter, October 30, 2018) https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-49942/

MOST-CITED AUTHORITIES: I11. Att' y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 10- 001

TASK FOR THE ASSISTANT: Using only the decisions above, help draft a letter. Argue from the rule and cite the decision by name and date. Do not invent decisions.

Violation found (1)

Data License Agreement as condition for access to records
Rule: Section 3(b) requires public bodies to provide copies of non-exempt public records upon payment of fees; it does not allow a public body to impose a data license agreement as a condition of access.
Violation found Records on gating Griffith Cave and Natural Heritage Database access · October 30, 2018