https://illinoisfoia.org/exemptions/7-1-n/ 2025-12-31T00:00:00Z https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2025-pac-89395/ 2025-12-31T00:00:00Z

The requester sought an unredacted copy of a village clerk's termination letter, which the village withheld citing personnel-record and workplace-privacy statutes and FOIA's personal-privacy and disciplinary-adjudication exemptions. The Public Access Counselor held that no cited statute prohibited disclosure of the letter, that it concerned the performance of public duties rather than private affairs, and that the village had not shown any formal adjudication occurred. The village was directed t

https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2025-pac-85201/ 2025-05-19T00:00:00Z

The requester, a nonprofit journalism organization, sought video of a former deputy police chief's out-of-state DUI arrest, which a police department withheld in full as relating to the adjudication of an employee disciplinary case. The Public Access Counselor held that the video pre-dated and existed independently of any disciplinary adjudication, so it did not fall within the exemption for records relating to the adjudication of employee disciplinary cases. The department was directed to discl

https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2024-pac-83122/ 2024-12-27T00:00:00Z

The requester, a union counsel, sought a letter that current and former oversight agency employees had sent a city commission asking it to investigate the agency's chief administrator, which the commission withheld citing multiple exemptions including deliberative process, audit materials, and adjudication of disciplinary cases. The Public Access Counselor held that the commission failed to show the letter was predecisional deliberative material, an internal audit record, work created for law en

https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-77963/ 2024-06-21T00:00:00Z

A requester asked Chicago Public Schools for emails about an employee's pay. The school district refused to release them, claiming they were part of a legal grievance process. The Attorney General's office disagreed, finding the emails existed independently of the grievance and must be released.

https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2024-pac-79729/ 2024-03-15T00:00:00Z

The requester sought video footage of an incident at a county animal control facility, which a sheriff's office withheld, first suggesting the investigation would soon close and then, on a renewed request, as records of an employee disciplinary adjudication. The Public Access Counselor held that the footage was investigatory material predating and existing independently of any adjudication, so the sheriff's office failed to prove the adjudication exemption applied. The sheriff's office was direc

https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-73794/ 2022-12-22T00:00:00Z

A parent asked a school district for records related to an investigation into her son's homebound education services. The district refused to provide the documents, claiming they were exempt from disclosure. The Attorney General's office reviewed the case and concluded the district was wrong to withhold the records and should provide them to the parent.

https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-69508/ 2022-06-08T00:00:00Z

A person requested records of complaints and investigations regarding a specific public employee from the DeKalb County Housing Authority, but the Authority denied the request. The Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Bureau reviewed the case and concluded that the Authority did not prove by clear and convincing evidence that the records were entirely exempt from disclosure. The Authority must release the records, but may redact the complainant's name and other identifying information to pr

https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-66131/ 2021-04-30T00:00:00Z

A citizen requested records of payments the City of Centralia made to a law firm. The City provided the records but blacked out names of clients and attorneys, claiming legal privilege. The Attorney General's office found these redactions were improper and requested that the City provide the unredacted documents.

https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-53007/ 2019-02-01T00:00:00Z

A reporter requested records from the University of Illinois regarding an investigation into a professor's research. The University redacted or withheld portions of the records, citing exemptions under state and federal law. The Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Bureau concluded that the University improperly denied portions of the records responsive to the requests.

https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2018-pac-55153/ 2018-12-31T00:00:00Z

The requester, a reporter, sought records of two misconduct complaints against a named former police officer from a water reclamation district, which first withheld the complaints as related to unresolved employee discipline and then, after acknowledging both complaints had been investigated and found unfounded, argued the records were exempt as an invasion of personal privacy. The Public Access Counselor held that records of misconduct complaints against a police officer bear on the officer's p

https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-40002/ 2016-04-08T00:00:00Z

The requester sought an employee's termination and reinstatement records from the university, which withheld them as records relating to an employee disciplinary adjudication. Based on confidential information the university provided, the PAC determined that the final outcome of the adjudication did not itself impose discipline, so the exemption for disciplinary case records was not overridden by the final-outcome exception. The university's withholding did not violate FOIA.