FOIA section 3(e)

FOIA

5 ILCS 140/3(e). 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.

3 issues across 3 determination letters:1 violation found · 1 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 Determination letters are not binding precedent.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

Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, Inc. v. Board of Education of City of Chicago, 2018 IL App (1st) 171846 cited 3 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-e.json.

TOPIC: 5 ILCS 140/3(e)
SOURCE: Illinois Attorney General Public Access Bureau decisions compiled at https://illinoisfoia.org/issues/foia-3-e/
NOTE: Determination letters are not binding precedent; they show how the Bureau applies the law.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):
- Village's extension notice failed to cite statutory reasons
  Rule: A public body extending its FOIA response time must notify the requester of the enumerated statutory reasons for the extension within five business days.
  Decision: Body-camera footage and response deadline extension (non-binding determination letter, November 6, 2024) https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-83592/

NO VIOLATION (1):
- Timeliness of FOIA extension and premature request for review
  Rule: A public body may unilaterally extend its FOIA response deadline by five business days, and a request for review filed before the extended deadline is premature.
  Decision: Records on removal of homeless individuals from O'Hare Airport (non-binding determination letter, July 3, 2023) https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-76927/

NO DETERMINATION / RESOLVED (1):
- University's five-day extension of FOIA response time
  Rule: The Public Access Counselor lacks jurisdiction to review a public body's unilateral statutory extension of its response deadline because no denial has occurred.
  Decision: A university's five-day extension to respond to a FOIA request (non-binding determination letter, April 15, 2019) https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-57623/

MOST-CITED AUTHORITIES: Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, Inc. v. Board of Education of City of Chicago, 2018 IL App (1st) 171846

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)

Village's extension notice failed to cite statutory reasons
Rule: A public body extending its FOIA response time must notify the requester of the enumerated statutory reasons for the extension within five business days.
Violation found Body-camera footage and response deadline extension · November 6, 2024

No violation (1)

Timeliness of FOIA extension and premature request for review
Rule: A public body may unilaterally extend its FOIA response deadline by five business days, and a request for review filed before the extended deadline is premature.
No violation Records on removal of homeless individuals from O'Hare Airport · July 3, 2023

No determination / resolved (1)

University's five-day extension of FOIA response time
Rule: The Public Access Counselor lacks jurisdiction to review a public body's unilateral statutory extension of its response deadline because no denial has occurred.
No determination / resolved A university's five-day extension to respond to a FOIA request · April 15, 2019