FOIADetermination Letter (non-binding)Closed no further actionFOIA Response Process

Algonquin Township not required to respond to FOIA request sent to personal email

The requester attempted to submit a FOIA request via the personal email address of the Algonquin Township Clerk.

Date issued: November 17, 2017
Request number(s): 50407
Public body: Algonquin Township
Statute(s): 5 ILCS 140/3
Outcome: Closed, no further action

Plain-language summary

A citizen sent a public records request to a Township Clerk's personal email address instead of using the official Township email. The Attorney General's office ruled that because the request wasn't sent to the public body through an official channel, the Township was not legally required to respond. This means FOIA requests must be directed to the public body's official contact methods to be valid.

Legal question

Whether a FOIA request sent to a public official's personal email address constitutes a request 'directed to the public body' under 5 ILCS 140/3(c).

Holding

The PAC determined that a FOIA request sent to a public official's personal email address, rather than an official public body channel, does not constitute a valid request under FOIA.

Summary

The requester submitted a FOIA request to a Township Clerk's personal email address rather than an official public body address, and the PAC determined that because the request was not properly directed to the public body, no further action was required.

Issues decided in this letter

Each question the Public Access Bureau decided, with the rule it applied. Extracted automatically from the letter; the source PDF is authoritative.

No determination / resolvedFOIA section 3(c)
FOIA request sent to personal email not directed to public body
Rule applied: A FOIA request must be directed to the public body; sending it to an official's personal email address does not constitute proper delivery unless that address is used for public business.
Authorities cited: Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 12-004, issued January 26, 2012, at 3

FOIA requestproper submissionpublic bodyemail address

Reading view (619 words)

This reading view follows the source PDF's positioned text blocks. Page headers, repeated office furniture, and lower-margin notes are kept out of the narrative; source notes are available below. Reconstruction is automatic and imperfect — the PDF is the authoritative version, and it's linked on this page.

Dear Mr.

This determination is issued pursuant to section 9. 5( c) of the Freedom of Information Act ( FOIA) ( 5 ILCS 140/ 9. 5( c) ( West 2016)). For the reasons that follow, the Public Access Bureau concludes that no further action in this matter is warranted.

On October 31, 2017, you submitted a FOIA request to the personal e- mail address of Ms. Karen Lukasik seeking all e- mails that she exchanged with another individual between October 25, 2017, and October 31, 2017. Ms. Lukasik is the Algonquin Township Township) Clerk. On November 9, 2017, you submitted a Request for Review to the Public Access Bureau alleging that the Township did not respond to your FOIA request and copied the Township Clerk on your Request for Review. On the same day you submitted your Request for Review, the Township Clerk responded to you and to this office by stating that she had not received the request via her Township e-mail address, and asking you to re -submit the request to her Township e- mail address.

Section 3( c) of FOIA ( 5 ILCS 140/ 3( c) ( West 2016)) expressly requires that requests be " directed to the public body." A requester may submit a FOIA request to a public body by personal delivery, mail, e- mail, fax, " or other means available to the public body." 5 ILCS 140/ 3( c) ( West 2016). The Attorney General has concluded that a public official representing the public body may receive a FOIA request by personal delivery at the public body's principal place of business or during a public meeting of the public body, but a public official is not " obligated to accept delivery of a FOIA request during a chance encounter on the sidewalk, or at his or her private residence or place of business." Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 12- 004, issued January 26, 2012, at 3.

Instead of directing your request to the Township, you submitted it to the personal e- mail address of the Township Clerk. The Township Clerk has an official e- mail address issued by the Township. Further, you have not asserted or demonstrated that the Township Clerk uses her personal e- mail address— rather than her official Township e- mail address— as a means of conducting Township business such as receiving or responding to FOIA requests. Because your FOIA request was not directed to a public body, as required by section 3( c) of FOIA, the Township did not receive or deny your FOIA request. Accordingly, no further action by this office is warranted.

If you have any questions, you may contact me at ( 217) 782-9054, mhartman@atg. state. il.us, or the Springfield address on the first page of this letter. This letter serves to close this matter.

Very truly yours,

Notes from the original PDF (1)

12 MATT H TMAN Assistant Attorney General Public Access Bureau 50407 f no fi war mun cc: Via electronic mail Ms. Karen Lukasik, Township Clerk Algonquin Township 3702 U. S. Highway 14 Crystal Lake, Illinois 60014 klukasik@algonquintownship. com