FOIA section 7(1)(q)

FOIA

Licensing/employment exam questions and scoring keys

5 ILCS 140/7(1)(q). Licensing/employment exam questions and scoring keys

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3 issues across 3 determination letters:1 violation found · 2 no violation.

Counts are per issue, not per letter, and come from automated extraction checked against sampled letters. Determination letters are not binding precedent.

Authorities the Bureau cites most on this issue

Ill. Att'y Gen. PAC Req. Rev. Ltr. 26217 cited 2 times
Ill. Att'y Gen. PAC Req. Rev. Ltr. 71541 cited 2 times
Kopchar v. City of Chicago, 395 Ill. App. 3d 762, 768 (2009) cited 1 times

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-7-1-q.json.

TOPIC: 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(q) - Licensing/employment exam questions and scoring keys
SOURCE: Illinois Attorney General Public Access Bureau decisions compiled at https://illinoisfoia.org/issues/foia-7-1-q/
NOTE: Determination letters are not binding precedent; they show how the Bureau applies the law. Verify every decision against the source PDF before citing it.

VIOLATION FOUND (1):
- Withholding license application records under section 7(1)(q)
  Rule: Routine factual background documents about an applicant are not examination data and do not fall within the section 7(1)(q) exemption.
  Decision: Records on business transfer verification and tobacco licensing (non-binding determination letter, April 22, 2025) https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-86063/

NO VIOLATION (2):
- Withholding interview questions under section 7(1)(q)
  Rule: Interview questions are 'other examination data' exempt from disclosure because future applicants could exploit them to gain an advantage.
  Decision: Interview questions for teacher candidates (non-binding determination letter, April 3, 2025) https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-85882/
- Redaction of examination data under section 7(1)(q)
  Rule: Section 7(1)(q) exempts test questions, questionnaires, and other records relied upon to formulate promotional examination results, so redaction was proper.
  Decision: Redacted qualification test questions from emails (non-binding determination letter, May 3, 2024) https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-80480/

MOST-CITED AUTHORITIES: Ill. Att'y Gen. PAC Req. Rev. Ltr. 26217; Ill. Att'y Gen. PAC Req. Rev. Ltr. 71541; Kopchar v. City of Chicago, 395 Ill. App. 3d 762, 768 (2009)

TASK FOR THE ASSISTANT: Using only the decisions above, help draft a letter. Argue from the rule and cite the decision by name and date. Do not invent decisions.

Violation found (1)

Withholding license application records under section 7(1)(q)
Rule: Routine factual background documents about an applicant are not examination data and do not fall within the section 7(1)(q) exemption.
Violation found Records on business transfer verification and tobacco licensing · April 22, 2025

No violation (2)

Withholding interview questions under section 7(1)(q)
Rule: Interview questions are 'other examination data' exempt from disclosure because future applicants could exploit them to gain an advantage.
No violation Interview questions for teacher candidates · April 3, 2025
Redaction of examination data under section 7(1)(q)
Rule: Section 7(1)(q) exempts test questions, questionnaires, and other records relied upon to formulate promotional examination results, so redaction was proper.
No violation Redacted qualification test questions from emails · May 3, 2024