FOIA section 6(a-5)
FOIA5 ILCS 140/6(a-5). Section 6 overview: Governs fees: electronic copies in the format requested if feasible; for a normal (non-commercial, non-voluminous) request, no charge for staff time spent searching for or reviewing records -- only actual reproduction costs, and even those are typically free for the first 50 pages of black-and-white copies.
3 issues across 3 determination letters:3 no violation.
Counts are per issue, not per letter, and come from automated extraction checked against sampled letters. Determination letters are not binding precedent.
Drafting brief for an AI assistant
Copy this into your assistant to help draft a request, appeal, or challenge to a denial that turns on this issue. It carries the rules and decisions, not your facts: add those yourself. Machine-readable version: foia-6-a-5.json.
No violation (3)
Fees for electronic records
Rule: A public body may charge fees for electronic records in response to a voluminous request, but must provide an accounting if fees are imposed.
No violation Aggregation of multiple FOIA requests as voluminous · March 3, 2025
Fee amount for CSV file under voluminous request
Rule: For a voluminous electronic request not in PDF and under 2 megabytes, a public body may charge up to $20.
No violation Writer reviews from a university · July 15, 2024
FOIA fee for voluminous electronic records
Rule: A public body may charge up to $20 for a voluminous request of electronic records in PDF format not exceeding 80 megabytes.
No violation Fee calculation for a voluminous electronic records request · April 25, 2024