Voting & Civil Rights

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal law. It allows people to get records from the federal government. It requires the government to give federal government records to people who request them.

There is an Illinois FOIA. It requires the state government to give state government records to people.

Agencies covered

Federal

This applies to all:

• Federal agencies,
• Departments,
• Regulatory commissions,
• Government controlled corporations, and
• Other groups in the executive branch of the federal government

This includes:

• Cabinet offices,
• Independent regulatory agencies,
• Corporations controlled by the government,
• Presidential commissions,
• The Executive Office of the President, and
• The Office of Management and Budget

There are exceptions. It does not apply to:

• The President or his immediate staff,
• The Office of the Vice President,
• The Office of Administration,
• Congress,
• The federal courts,
• Private corporations,
• Federally funded state agencies, or
• State and local governments

Illinois 

This allows you to get information from Illinois public bodies. Those bodies are required to give people some records if requested.

This includes:

• Legislative bodies of Illinois,
• Executive bodies of Illinois,
• Administrative bodies of Illinois, 
• Advisory bodies of Illinois,
• State universities and colleges,
• Counties, townships, cities, villages, and incorporated towns,
• School districts, and
• Other municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees, or commissions of Illinois

The information you can get

There are many types of information you can request.

Federal 

This covers all records that have been:

• Created,
• Obtained by the agency, and
• Are in control of the agency at the time of the request. 

These can include:

• Orders,
• Rules,
• Policy information,
• Reports and studies,
• Public contracts, and
• Titles and salaries of public employees

This also includes records held by non-government entities.

The term “records" includes:

• Papers,
• Reports,
• Letters,
• E-mail,
• Films,
• Computer Tapes,
• Photographs, and
• Sound recordings

Physical objects are not considered records. You can request either paper or electronic records. FOIA law does not require agencies to create new records, analyze data, or answer A written statement used to respond to the complaint or petition in a lawsuit questions in response A formal written answer to the plaintiff or petitioner's written statement to requests. There is no central agency that handles all FOIA requests. Each agency handles its own FOIA requests.

Illinois

This allows you to request all records that have been:

• Prepared by or for public agencies
• Used by public agencies
• In the possession or control of public agencies

These can include:

• Orders,
• Rules,
• Policy information,
• Reports and studies,
• Public contracts, and
• Titles and salaries of public employees.

The information you cannot get

Federal 

There are exemptions In bankruptcy, property that you can protect from creditors. In property taxes, an amount that reduces the value of your home that is used to calculate property taxes owed. . They include:

• Information relating to national security that is ordered to be kept secret,
• Records that are related  to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency,
• Information that cannot be revealed under federal law,
• Trade secrets, 
• Commercial or financial information that is confidential or privileged,
• Privileged communications within or between agencies,
• Information that would cause an unnecessary invasion of personal privacy,
• Records that, if revealed, could get in the way of law enforcement purposes,
• Records that could take away someone’s right to a fair trial When the issues of a case are heard in court and decided by a judge or jury ,
• Bank reports, and
• Oil and gas well data

If you request information from one of these groups, the agency may deny To refuse or say no it. The denial When a court rejects or refuses to allow a request; for example, when a judge decides not to grant an attorney's objection. should state which exclusion type the information you requested falls under.

Illinois

Some information is not covered and does not have to be released. This includes but is not limited to:

• Data that cannot be disclosed because of federal or state law,
• Private information,
• Documents from a law enforcement agency about a person’s mental or physical state,
• Law enforcement records that would take away someone's rights,
• Law enforcement records that would interfere with a pending or likely to occur proceeding,
• Records that could affect the security of jails,
• Preliminary drafts,
• Trade secrets,
• Proposals and bids for contracts that would interfere with the bidding process,
• Valuable data that could produce private gain or public loss,
• Data reported by an employer to the Department of Human Rights,
• Records relating to a public body’s handling of an employee’s grievance or disciplinary case, except the outcome,
• Restrictions on the records a person committed Includes juveniles in placement in the facility as part of a court order. to the Department of Corrections may request, and
• Information about individual abortion providers from the Department of Public Health

There are other types of information protected from release by the Illinois FOIA law. If you request information protected from release, the agency may deny it. It must notify you of its reason for doing so. The agency may also remove the parts of the information that is exempt, and provide you with the rest.

Note: Starting January 1, 2024, in Illinois, users of Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) are not allowed to sell, share, or transfer information from ALPRs to enforce Taking legal steps to make someone do what the court tells them to do laws that interfere with reproductive health care choices or permit detention based on immigration status. This means you might be refused access to information or records created using ALPRs.