Public records by state · Illinois
Illinois FOIA: fees, deadlines, the Public Access Counselor, penalties
The Freedom of Information Act is 5 ILCS 140: what a body may charge, the 5 business day clock, the Public Access Counselor, and what a bad denial costs.
Request volume keeps climbing. AI-generated requests, social media, and reporters add to the queue, and records staff does not grow with it. In most offices review still happens one page at a time in Adobe, by one or two people. The requests now pull in texts, photos, and whole email exports. Illinois sharpens the squeeze: search and review hours cannot be billed on a standard request.
Fees
What a public body may charge. Copies and media, never the labor.
Start with what is free. The first 50 pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies carry no fee. 5 ILCS 140/6(b). Unless a request is commercial or voluminous, a body may not charge for the costs of any search for and review of the records or other personnel costs. 5 ILCS 140/6(a).
THE COST THE ACT NEVER FUNDS
Redaction time is review time, and on a standard Illinois request none of it can be billed. Forty hours of screening bills the same as ten minutes. The hours come out of the public body's own budget.
| Copying charge | Amount | Where |
|---|---|---|
| First 50 pages, black and white, letter or legal | Free | 5 ILCS 140/6(b) |
| Pages after the first 50 | 15 cents a page, maximum | 6(b) |
| Color copies or other sizes | Actual reproduction cost | 6(b) |
| Electronic records | Actual cost of the recording medium | 5 ILCS 140/6(a) |
| Certifying a record | $1 maximum | 6(b) |
- An overcharge is a denial. A fee outside subsections 6(a) and 6(b) is a denial of access for judicial review purposes. 5 ILCS 140/6(d).
- The commercial carve-out. Commercial requests alone pay search and retrieval labor: up to $10 an hour after the first 8 free hours. 5 ILCS 140/6(f). Voluminous electronic requests carry their own data fees. 6(a-5).
The Public Access Counselor
Every denial gets a reviewer with subpoena power.
A denial must explain itself in writing: the reasons with a detailed factual basis, the names and titles of each person responsible, and notice of the rights to PAC review and judicial review. 5 ILCS 140/9(a). An exemption claim must be specified, with specific reasons and a citation to supporting legal authority. 9(b).
The PAC sits in the Attorney General's office. A requester has 60 days after a final denial to seek review. 5 ILCS 140/9.5(a).
- The body must cooperate. The specified records go over within 7 business days, or the Attorney General may issue a subpoena. 5 ILCS 140/9.5(c).
- A binding opinion in 60 days. Binding on requester and body, extendable by up to 30 business days, unless the Attorney General resolves the matter by mediation or other means. 5 ILCS 140/9.5(f).
- Compliance is a safe harbor. Disclosing records in accordance with an opinion brings immunity from penalties. 9.5(f).
When a denial reaches court
What a wrongful denial costs.
How review works
A denied requester may sue for injunctive or declaratory relief in circuit court. Review is de novo, with in camera examination, and the burden sits with the public body: an exemption must be proven by clear and convincing evidence. 5 ILCS 140/11(a), (f).
On motion, the court orders an index of what was withheld, with the exemption claimed for each item. 5 ILCS 140/11(e).
ATTORNEY FEES
A requester who prevails shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs. 5 ILCS 140/11(i).
$2,500 TO $5,000
For willful and intentional failure to comply, or other bad faith: a civil penalty of $2,500 to $5,000 for each occurrence. 5 ILCS 140/11(j).
UP TO $1,000 A DAY
The add-on when a body still has not complied 30 days after the court's disclosure order, while that order stands. 11(j).
The clock
Five business days, one short extension.
Within 5 business days after receipt, a public body must comply or deny in writing. Doing neither counts as a denial, and copies produced after a missed deadline are free. 5 ILCS 140/3(d).
One extension of up to 5 business days is available for reasons the statute lists. Written notice goes out within 5 business days, stating the reasons and the response date. 5 ILCS 140/3(e), (f). Requester and body may also agree in writing to more time. 3(e).
Three request types run on their own clocks:
- Commercial requests. 21 working days for the initial response: a time and fee estimate, a denial, an unduly burdensome notice, or the records. 5 ILCS 140/3.1(a).
- Recurrent requesters. 50 requests to the same body in 12 months, 15 in 30 days, or 7 in 7 days. Notice within 5 business days, initial response within 21. 2(g), 5 ILCS 140/3.2.
- Voluminous requests. More than 5 categories of records within 20 business days, or a compilation over 500 pages. Notice within 5 business days, then 10 to narrow it. 5 ILCS 140/2(h), 5 ILCS 140/3.6.
Exemptions
Presumed open, and the burden never moves.
All records in the custody or possession of a public body are presumed open, and a body asserting an exemption must prove it by clear and convincing evidence. 5 ILCS 140/1.2.
Redact and release. When a record holds exempt and nonexempt information, the body may redact the exempt part. The remainder shall be made available. 5 ILCS 140/7(1). Cited most:
- 7(1)(b) Private information. The identifiers defined in Section 2(c-5), among them social security numbers, biometric identifiers, medical records, home and personal phone numbers, and personal email addresses. 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(b), 2(c-5).
- 7(1)(c) Personal privacy. A clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Information bearing on the public duties of public employees and officials does not qualify. 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(c).
- 7(1)(d) Law enforcement. Only to the extent disclosure would cause a listed harm. 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(d).
- 7(1)(f) Preliminary drafts. Notes and records in which opinions are expressed or policies are formulated, until the head of the body publicly cites and identifies the record. 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(f).
Section 7.5 lists the statutory exemptions: records sealed by other Illinois statutes, to the extent those statutes provide. 5 ILCS 140/7.5.
The act
Who the act covers.
The act reaches State legislative, executive, administrative, and advisory bodies, state universities, counties, cities, villages, townships, school districts and other municipal corporations, and their subsidiary bodies and committees. 5 ILCS 140/2(a).
A public record is recorded information pertaining to the transaction of public business, regardless of physical form. Electronic communications are named in the definition. 5 ILCS 140/2(c). The workload lives there: one email export runs thousands of pages, attachments arrive as records of their own, and overlapping exports should be reviewed once. Each mark needs the subsection that covers it, in this act's numbering.
Practical notes
For the person actually answering requests.
- Designate and train FOIA officers. Each completes the PAC's electronic training curriculum, then an annual program; a new officer within 30 days. Completion is a prerequisite to serving. 5 ILCS 140/3.5.
- Keep denial notices in a central file. Open to the public, indexed by the exemption asserted. 5 ILCS 140/9(b).
- Point to the website when you can. A record already published online can be answered with directions to it, unless the requester cannot reasonably access it there. 5 ILCS 140/8.5.
- Never ask why. Purpose may not be demanded except to sort out a commercial purpose or a fee waiver. 3(c).
- The requester must be a person. Since January 2026, a body that reasonably believes a request did not come from a person may require verification. The clock tolls until it comes. 5 ILCS 140/3(j).
Illinois FOIA questions, answered from the statute
How long does an Illinois public body have to respond to a FOIA request?
Five business days after receipt, to comply or deny. One extension of up to 5 more business days is allowed for listed reasons, with written notice. Missing the deadline counts as a denial, and late production means the copies are free. 5 ILCS 140/3(d), (e), (f).
Can an Illinois public body charge for time spent searching or redacting?
Not on a standard request. The act bars charges for search and review of the records and other personnel costs. Commercial requests are the exception: up to $10 an hour after the first 8 hours, with an itemized accounting. 5 ILCS 140/6(a), (f).
What are Illinois's copying charges?
The first 50 pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies are free, then no more than 15 cents a page. Color or other sizes bill at actual cost. Electronic records cost only the recording medium. 5 ILCS 140/6(a), (b).
What must a written FOIA denial include in Illinois?
The reasons for the denial with a detailed factual basis, the names and titles of each person responsible, and notice of the rights to Public Access Counselor review and judicial review. An exemption claim must also be specified, with specific reasons and supporting legal authority. 5 ILCS 140/9(a), (b).
What does the Public Access Counselor do with a denial?
A requester may ask the PAC for review within 60 days after a final denial. The body must furnish the specified records within 7 business days. The Attorney General issues an opinion binding on both sides within 60 days, extendable by up to 30 business days, or resolves the matter by mediation or other means. 5 ILCS 140/9.5.
How should a public body handle a request for a whole email export?
Email about public business is a public record; the definition covers electronic communications regardless of physical form. Redact what is exempt and release the rest. Private information such as home phone numbers and personal email addresses comes out under 7(1)(b). On a standard request, none of that review time is chargeable. 5 ILCS 140/2(c), 7(1), 6(a).
This page is general information, not legal advice. The statute is the authority: read it at ilga.gov and check anything that matters before it goes out.
The review hours are the whole cost.
Illinois funds the copies and never the review hours. RecordBeacon reads a records set, including whole email exports, flags content that may be exempt, and holds every mark for a named reviewer. The release records who decided what, which is the record you want when a denial is challenged. The first fifteen documents are free with no card.
Or read how it works on the public records software page.