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Illinois FOIA & OMA Reference
Free · Public Illinois government records

Illinois FOIA & OMA, in plain English.

Plain-language summaries of Public Access Counselor and Attorney General decisions and Illinois court cases, each with a link to the source. Check the original document before relying on a summary — see Sources & methods. No account, no paywall.

I want records →My request was denied or ignored

No response at all? What to do when a request is ignored

Start with what you're trying to do

File something yourself

Tool

Build a FOIA request

A plain form that drafts a request letter in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere.

Tool

Build an appeal

Denied, ignored, or charged a steep fee? Draft a Request for Review letter to the Public Access Counselor.

Tool

Find a FOIA officer

Look up Illinois local public bodies by name, county, or type.

Research the law

FOIA

Look up a records request opinion

Browse 493 FOIA opinions & letters — fees, exemptions, denials, deadlines.

OMA

Look up a meeting-related opinion

Browse 348 OMA opinions & letters — closed sessions, notice, minutes, public comment.

Guides

Read practical guides

Step-by-step help for common situations, from denied requests to police records.

Reference

Read the FAQ

Common questions, grouped by topic, every answer cited to a real opinion.

Case law

Browse court cases

Illinois appellate & Supreme Court decisions addressing FOIA and OMA.

Search

Search everything

Full-text search across every opinion, letter, case, and FAQ answer.

Work for a public body? For FOIA officers: a response checklist and template letters.

The corpus, by the numbers

843
PAC & AG documents
297
Relevant court cases
253
Violations found
70
FAQ answers, all cited

The data is CC0 — free to reuse. Data & downloads

Latest in the corpus

Opinions & determination letters

FOIAMadison County Sheriff's Office violated FOIA by withholding restraint chair incident reports
2026 PAC 95139 · Madison County Sheriff's Office · 2026-09-30
FOIAChicago Department of Law improperly withheld third-party communications under Section 7(1)(c)
2026 PAC 94563 · City of Chicago Department of Law · 2026-08-26
FOIAChicago Water Management properly withheld drainage infrastructure locations under Section 7(1)(x)
2026 PAC 94532 · City of Chicago Department of Water Management · 2026-08-21
OMAJoliet Township High School District 204 Board violated OMA by signing letter outside meeting
Joliet Township High School District 204 Board of Education · 2026-07-31
FOIAVillage of Sherrard violated FOIA by failing to respond to two records requests
2026 PAC 94082 · Village of Sherrard · 2026-07-28
FOIAChicago Police Department properly withheld body camera footage under 7.5(cc) and Body Camera Act
Chicago Police Department · 2026-07-21

Court cases

NBC Subsidiary (WMAQ-TV) LLC v. Chicago Police Department
2026 IL App (1st) 250575-U · Appellate · 2026
Cleother Tidwell v. Illinois Department of Corrections
2026 IL App (5th) 250237-U · Appellate · 2026
Cleother Tidwell v. City of Alton
2026 IL App (5th) 250498-U · Appellate · 2026

Documents over time

Full statistics & charts →
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