{
 "topic": "FOIA section 2(c)",
 "statute": "5 ILCS 140/2(c)",
 "family": "Definitions (public body, public record, requesters)",
 "page": "https://illinoisfoia.org/issues/foia-2-c/",
 "note": "Determination letters are non-binding. Verify against the source PDF before citing.",
 "counts": {
  "violation_found": 5,
  "no_violation": 13,
  "no_determination": 1,
  "other": 0
 },
 "challenge_notes": {
  "generated_by": "AI summary of the decisions listed on this page; not legal advice; verify each decision against its PDF",
  "when_a_challenge_is_strong": [
   {
    "text": "The public body claims that extracting data from an existing database would create a new record, but the data can be retrieved by running simple queries that the database already supports.",
    "why": "FOIA requires disclosure of existing data that can be extracted with routine database queries; producing such data is not creating a new record.",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Property assessment documentation and calculations",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-80093/#issue-2"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "The public body has not searched officials' personal email accounts or mobile devices for messages related to public business, and responsive texts or emails are known to exist.",
    "why": "Text messages and emails concerning public business, even if sent or stored on personal devices, are public records, and the body must search those accounts and devices upon request.",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Library trustees' communications via personal accounts",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-70344/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "A mayor's text messages with city officials",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-69562/#issue-1"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "Electronic communications were sent or received by a member of the public body during a public meeting and those communications relate to the business being conducted.",
    "why": "Such communications qualify as public records under FOIA because they pertain to public business and involve a public official acting in their capacity during a meeting.",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Park district officials' communications about district business",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-59166/#issue-2"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "The public body withholds portions of aggregated documents (e.g., agenda packets) as non-responsive, but those portions actually relate to the request.",
    "why": "Records must be liberally classified as responsive; isolated records within a larger document that connect to the request cannot be dismissed simply because they are part of a compilation.",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Records concerning a specific property address",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-76410/#issue-2"
     }
    ]
   }
  ],
  "when_the_body_usually_wins": [
   {
    "text": "The request asks for general data, statistics, or answers to questions instead of identifying an existing record by type, subject, date, or other descriptive criteria.",
    "why": "FOIA requires a request to reasonably identify a public record, not to demand data compilation or to pose questions. The body need not create a record or answer questions.",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Police daily body-camera usage statistics for a specific date",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-82064/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "Questions about internal procedures and legal definitions",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-81259/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "Website usage data from office computers",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-32068/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "Selective enrollment test data and phone call logs",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-61967/#issue-2"
     },
     {
      "title": "Questions about police background-search practices",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-80487/#issue-1"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "The sought records involve purely private affairs – condolences to families of employees, private outside consulting emails, or personal discussions unrelated to public duties.",
    "why": "A communication must pertaining to the transaction of public business to be a public record. Purely private messages are not subject to FOIA.",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "College records of employee bereavement acknowledgments",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-88239/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "Emails from a professor's university account",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-50347/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "A mayor's text messages with public officials",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-71689/#issue-1"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "The request would compel the public body to create a new record, such as combining data from separate databases, generating reports that require subjective analysis, or producing documents it does not already maintain.",
    "why": "FOIA does not require a public body to create a new record. Compilation, manipulation, or generation of records not already in existence falls outside the duty to disclose.",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Property assessment documentation and calculations",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-80093/#issue-3"
     },
     {
      "title": "Metadata compilation of electronic monitoring call recordings",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-70612/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "A public official's personal political Facebook page",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-66839/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "A public official's personal political Facebook page",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-66839/#issue-2"
     },
     {
      "title": "Website usage data from office computers",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-32068/#issue-1"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "The public body's search for records is challenged, but the body demonstrably asked officials in good faith about personal accounts and devices, and did not search every conceivable system or obtain records from former employees' personal accounts.",
    "why": "An adequate search need only be reasonable; it does not require searching every record system or retrieving records from individuals no longer with the body.",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "A board member's personal cell phone communications during a meeting",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-84430/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "Investigative files and schedules of a former deputy sheriff",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-47187/#issue-1"
     }
    ]
   }
  ],
  "points_to_put_in_the_letter": [
   {
    "text": "If the body says fulfilling the request would require creating a new record, point out that FOIA allows extracting existing data with simple database queries – producing a report from data already sitting in a database is not creation (D1042.2).",
    "why": "",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Property assessment documentation and calculations",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-80093/#issue-2"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "When the body has withheld text messages or emails claiming they are on personal devices, cite that the Bureau has found such communications are public records if they concern public business, and the body must search those accounts (D977.1, D971.1).",
    "why": "",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Library trustees' communications via personal accounts",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-70344/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "A mayor's text messages with city officials",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-69562/#issue-1"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "If communications during a public meeting are denied, cite the decision that electronic messages sent by members during a meeting and about public business are public records (D941.2).",
    "why": "",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Park district officials' communications about district business",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-59166/#issue-2"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "When parts of an aggregated document are withheld as non-responsive, insist that each discrete record within it be liberally reviewed – if any part relates to your request, it should be released (D1004.2).",
    "why": "",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Records concerning a specific property address",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-76410/#issue-2"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "If the body claims your request is invalid because it asks for data or answers, reframe it to identify specific records (e.g., 'emails between X and Y from date to date about Z') to show you are seeking existing records, not asking questions (D1072.1, D1059.1).",
    "why": "",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Police daily body-camera usage statistics for a specific date",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-82064/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "Questions about internal procedures and legal definitions",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-81259/#issue-1"
     }
    ]
   }
  ],
  "facts_to_gather": [
   "Whether the information can be extracted by an existing database query or report function (e.g., screen shots of query options, data fields).",
   "Names of officials who may have used personal devices, the approximate date range, and the subject matter showing the communications pertain to public business.",
   "Evidence that communications occurred during a specific meeting (agenda item, time, identity of sender/recipient) and the topic related to public business.",
   "A clear description of the exact records sought, not just the topic – format, approximate date, sender/recipient, and subject matter."
  ],
  "common_mistakes": [
   {
    "text": "Phrasing the request as a question or a demand for statistics instead of describing existing records (e.g., 'How many times did...?'). This will be denied because FOIA does not require answering questions or compiling data.",
    "why": "",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Police daily body-camera usage statistics for a specific date",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-82064/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "Questions about internal procedures and legal definitions",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-81259/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "Questions about police background-search practices",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-80487/#issue-1"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "Assuming that any message on a personal device or any page on a government-related social media account is automatically a public record. The Bureau requires the communication to pertain to the transaction of public business.",
    "why": "",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "A mayor's text messages with public officials",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-71689/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "A public official's personal political Facebook page",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-66839/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "A public official's personal political Facebook page",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-66839/#issue-2"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "Demanding that the public body create a new document by combining data from different systems or generating reports it does not normally produce. FOIA does not compel creation of new records.",
    "why": "",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "Metadata compilation of electronic monitoring call recordings",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-70612/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "Property assessment documentation and calculations",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-80093/#issue-3"
     },
     {
      "title": "Website usage data from office computers",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-32068/#issue-1"
     }
    ]
   },
   {
    "text": "Assuming the public body must search every possible electronic repository or obtain records from former employees' personal accounts. The duty is to conduct a reasonable search; a good-faith inquiry of officials may suffice.",
    "why": "",
    "decisions": [
     {
      "title": "A board member's personal cell phone communications during a meeting",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-84430/#issue-1"
     },
     {
      "title": "Investigative files and schedules of a former deputy sheriff",
      "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-47187/#issue-1"
     }
    ]
   }
  ],
  "caution": "These notes are based on non-binding determination letters and only reflect the specific facts of those cases; each situation depends on its own facts, and verifying the actual PDF decisions is essential before relying on any point."
 },
 "issues": [
  {
   "issue": "Whether condolence and memorial records are public records",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "Records expressing condolences about employee family member deaths pertain to private affairs, not the transaction of public business, and are not public records under FOIA.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "College records of employee bereavement acknowledgments",
    "date": "2025-08-08",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-88239/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "City of Champaign v. Madigan, 2013 IL App (4th) 120662, ¶ 31",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2013%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20120662/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. PAC Req. Rev. Ltr. 71689, issued May 5, 2023",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-71689/"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Adequacy of District's search for responsive records",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "A public body may fulfill its duty to conduct a reasonable search by asking officials in good faith whether their personal accounts or devices contain responsive records.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "A board member's personal cell phone communications during a meeting",
    "date": "2025-02-28",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-84430/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "City of Champaign v. Madigan, 2013 IL App (4th) 120662",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2013%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20120662/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Campbell v. United States Department of Justice, 164 F.3d 20 (D.C. Cir. 1998)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Better Government Ass'n v. City of Chicago, 2020 IL App (1st) 190038",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 11-006",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2011-pac-15916/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 16-006",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2016-pac-41657/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Nissen v. Pierce County, 183 Wash. 2d 863 (Wash. 2015)",
     "url": null
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Request sought general data, not identifiable public records",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "FOIA requires a request to reasonably identify a public record, not general data, information, or statistics, and a public body need not answer questions or generate new records.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Police daily body-camera usage statistics for a specific date",
    "date": "2024-07-11",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-82064/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Chicago Tribune Co. v. Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, 2014 IL App (4th) 130427, ¶ 33",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2014%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20130427/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Kenyon v. Garrels, 184 Ill. App. 3d 28, 32 (1989)",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/pre1996-129427/"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "FOIA request asking questions rather than records",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "FOIA applies only to existing public records; a public body need not answer questions or compile data scattered across records.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Questions about internal procedures and legal definitions",
    "date": "2024-07-01",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-81259/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Kenyon v. Garrels, 184 Ill. App. 3d 28, 32 (1989)",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/pre1996-129427/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Martinez v. Cook County State's Attorney's Office, 2018 IL App (1st) 163153, ¶ 25",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2018%20IL%20App%20(1st)%20163153/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Chicago Tribune Co. v. Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, 2014 IL App (4th) 130427, ¶ 33",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2014%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20130427/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Manna v. U.S. Department of Justice, 106 F. Supp. 3d 16, 19 (D.D.C. 2015)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Lamb v. I.R.S., 871 F. Supp. 301, 304 (E.D. Mich. 1994)",
     "url": null
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Whether requester's submission was a valid FOIA request",
   "outcome": "no_determination",
   "rule": "FOIA requires a request to reasonably identify existing public records, not to answer questions or create new records.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Questions about police background-search practices",
    "date": "2024-03-14",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-80487/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Kenyon v. Garrels, 184 Ill. App. 3d 28, 32 (1989)",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/pre1996-129427/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Chicago Tribune Co. v. Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, 2014 IL App (4th) 130427, 133",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2014%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20130427/"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Denial of Visual PAMSPro Audit Trail and Hot Sheet",
   "outcome": "violation_found",
   "rule": "FOIA requires disclosure of existing data in a public body's database that can be extracted by running simple queries, even if a report has not been run before, because it does not require creating a new record.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Property assessment documentation and calculations",
    "date": "2025-03-26",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-80093/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Hites v. Waubonsee Community College, 2016 IL App (2d) 150836, ¶ 57",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2016%20IL%20App%20(2d)%20150836/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Better Government Ass'n v. City of Chicago, 2020 IL App (1st) 190038, ¶ 31",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Yeager v. Drug Enforcement Administration, 678 F.2d 315, 321 (D.C. Cir. 1982)",
     "url": null
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Denial of Visual PAMSPro Comparables and Land Valuation reports",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "FOIA does not require a public body to create new records, such as a Comparables report requiring subjective judgment or Land Valuation reports for methods not used by the body.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Property assessment documentation and calculations",
    "date": "2025-03-26",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-80093/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Hites v. Waubonsee Community College, 2016 IL App (2d) 150836, ¶ 79",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2016%20IL%20App%20(2d)%20150836/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Chicago Tribune Co. v. Dep't of Financial & Professional Regulation, 2014 IL App (4th) 130427, ¶ 37",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2014%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20130427/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. PAC Req. Rev. Ltr. 78983, issued May 30, 2024, at 7",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-78983/"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Responsiveness of agenda packets and permit copies",
   "outcome": "violation_found",
   "rule": "Records must be liberally construed as responsive, but discrete records within aggregated documents that do not relate to the request are not responsive.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Records concerning a specific property address",
    "date": "2023-07-20",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-76410/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Dunaway v. Webster, 519 F. Supp. 1059, 1083 (N.D. Cal. 1981)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals v. National Institutes of Health, 745 F.3d 535, 541 (D.C. Cir. 2014)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Nation Magazine v. U.S. Customs Service, 71 F.3d 885, 890 (D.C. Cir. 1995)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "LaCedra v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, 317 F.3d 345, 348 (D.C. Cir. 2003)",
     "url": null
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Redacted text messages as non-public records",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "A communication must pertain to public business to be a public record; purely private matters are not subject to FOIA disclosure.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "A mayor's text messages with public officials",
    "date": "2023-05-05",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-71689/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Southern Illinoisan v. Illinois Dep't of Public Health, 218 Ill. 2d 390, 415 (2006)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "City of Champaign v. Madigan, 2013 IL App (4th) 120662, 931, 992 N.E.2d 629, 636 (2013)",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2013%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20120662/"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Creation of new record by compiling data from separate databases",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "FOIA does not require a public body to compile or manipulate data from separate databases into a new record.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Metadata compilation of electronic monitoring call recordings",
    "date": "2024-08-23",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-70612/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Hites v. Waubonsee Community College, 2016 IL App (2d) 150836",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2016%20IL%20App%20(2d)%20150836/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. PAC Req. Rev. Ltr. 73026",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund v. BATFE, 403 F. Supp. 3d 343 (S.D.N.Y. 2019)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project v. United States Immigration & Customs Enforcement, 58 F.4th 643 (2d Cir. 2023)",
     "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/9370790/aclu-immigrants-rts-project-v-ice/"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Adequacy of search for records on personal accounts and devices",
   "outcome": "violation_found",
   "rule": "A public body must search personal accounts and devices of officials for records pertaining to public business, not just those involving a quorum or during meetings.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Library trustees' communications via personal accounts",
    "date": "2022-05-17",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-70344/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "City of Champaign v. Madigan, 2013 IL App (4th) 120662, 992 N.E.2d 629 (2013)",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2013%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20120662/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Better Government Ass'n v. City of Chicago, 2020 IL App (1st) 190038, 169 N.E.3d 1066 (2020)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 16-006, issued August 9, 2016",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2016-pac-41657/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. Req. Rev. Ltr. 49623, issued February 14, 2018",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Nissen v. Pierce County, 183 Wash. 2d 863, 357 P.3d 45 (Wash. 2015)",
     "url": null
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Whether redacted text messages are public records",
   "outcome": "violation_found",
   "rule": "Text messages pertaining to public business are public records regardless of whether a personal device was used.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "A mayor's text messages with city officials",
    "date": "2022-03-23",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-69562/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "City of Champaign v. Madigan, 2013 IL App (4th) 120662",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2013%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20120662/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Better Gov't Ass'n v. City of Chicago Office of Mayor, 2020 IL App (1st) 190038",
     "url": null
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Facebook page records as public records",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "Records must pertain to the transaction of public business and be prepared by, for, used by, received by, possessed by, or controlled by a public body to be public records.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "A public official's personal political Facebook page",
    "date": "2021-02-10",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-66839/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 11-006",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2011-pac-15916/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 16-006",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2016-pac-41657/"
    },
    {
     "text": "City of Champaign v. Madigan, 2013 IL App (4th) 120662",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2013%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20120662/"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Blocked accounts list as public record",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "A list of blocked accounts from a political Facebook page not maintained by the County is not a public record subject to FOIA.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "A public official's personal political Facebook page",
    "date": "2021-02-10",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-66839/"
   },
   "authorities": []
  },
  {
   "issue": "Dates and times of phone calls",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "A public body is not required to answer questions or generate new records in response to a FOIA request.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Selective enrollment test data and phone call logs",
    "date": "2020-11-18",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-61967/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Kenyon v. Garrels, 184 Ill. App. 3d 28 (4th Dist. 1989)",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/pre1996-129427/"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Whether commissioner's text messages are public records",
   "outcome": "violation_found",
   "rule": "Electronic communications sent or received by a public body member during a meeting and pertaining to public business are public records subject to FOIA.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Park district officials' communications about district business",
    "date": "2020-01-16",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-59166/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "City of Champaign v. Madigan, 2013 IL App (4th) 120662",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2013%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20120662/"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Whether professor's emails are public records",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "Emails on a university email address about private outside consulting do not pertain to public business and are not public records.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Emails from a professor's university account",
    "date": "2018-02-15",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-50347/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. PAC Req. Rev. Ltr. 35374",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 11-006",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2011-pac-15916/"
    },
    {
     "text": "City of Champaign v. Madigan, 2013 IL App (4th) 120662",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2013%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20120662/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Howell Education Association MEA/NEA v. Howell Board of Education, 287 Mich. App. 228, 789 N.W.2d 495 (2010)",
     "url": null
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Adequacy of sheriff's office search for responsive records",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "A public body must conduct a reasonable search, but need not search every record system or obtain records from a former employee's personal accounts.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Investigative files and schedules of a former deputy sheriff",
    "date": "2017-08-10",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-47187/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Campbell v. U.S. Department of Justice, 164 F.3d 20, 28 (D.C. Cir. 1998)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Oglesby v. U.S. Department of the Army, 920 F.2d 57, 68 (D.C. Cir. 1990)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Moore v. F.B.I., 366 Fed. Appx. 659, 661 (7th Cir. 2010)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Yeager v. Drug Enforcement Admin., 678 F.2d 315, 321 (D.C. Cir. 1982)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Miller v. United States Dep't of State, 779 F.2d 1378, 1385 (8th Cir. 1985)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 16-006, issued August 9, 2016",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2016-pac-41657/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. PAC Req. Rev. Ltr. 29327, issued March 27, 2015",
     "url": null
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Request for general data not public record",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "A FOIA request must reasonably identify a public record; it cannot demand general data or require the public body to compile or create new records.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Website usage data from office computers",
    "date": "2018-04-12",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-32068/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Chicago Tribune Co. v. Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, 2014 IL App (4th) 130427",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2014%20IL%20App%20(4th)%20130427/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Hites v. Waubonsee Community College, 2016 IL App (2d) 150836",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2016%20IL%20App%20(2d)%20150836/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Kenyon v. Garrels, 184 Ill. App. 3d 28 (4th Dist. 1989)",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/pre1996-129427/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Martinez v. Cook County State's Attorney's Office, 2018 IL App (1st) 163153",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2018%20IL%20App%20(1st)%20163153/"
    }
   ]
  }
 ]
}