Duty to Respond to FOIA Requests

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Dear Mr. Schroedter and Freedom of Information O>cer:

This binding opinion is issued by the Attorney General pursuant to section 9.5(f) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 ILCS 140/9.5(f) (West 2022), as amended by Public Act 103-069, e@ective January 1, 2024). For the reasons discussed below, this o>ce concludes that the Village of Dolton (Village) violated section 3(d) of FOIA (5 ILCS 140/3(d) (West 2022)) by failing to comply with, deny in whole or in part, or otherwise appropriately respond to a FOIA request submitted by Mr. Andrew Schroedter.

BACKGROUND

On November 29, 2023, Mr. Schroedter, on behalf of WGN-TV, submitted a FOIA request to the Village seeking:

+ Copies of documents su>cient to show total payments to Ti@any Henyard in 2023. + A copy of the current lease for Mayor Henyard's village vehicle.

+ Copies of monthly statements for any and all village credit cards, from June 1, 2023 to present.!!!

Having received no response, on December 14, 2023, Mr. Schroedter sent an e-mail forwarding his November 29, 2023, request to Mr. Keith Freeman, the Village Administrator, and copied Village Clerk Alison Key, Mr. Michael Del Galdo, an attorney in private practice who represents the Village,” and a colleague at WGN-TV. The e-mail stated that the request was "past duef.]"?

On December 15, 2023, Mr. Schroedter submitted a Request for Review to the Public Access Counselor in which he alleged that the Village had failed to respond to his FOIA request. On December 27, 2023, the Public Access Bureau e-mailed the FOIA O>cer for the Village a copy of the Request for Review and a letter asking whether the Village had received and responded to Mr. Schroedter's FOIA request.> The December 27, 2023, letter also requested that if the Village had not yet responded, it do so and provide this o>ce with a copy of its response.® The Village did not respond to the Public Access Bureau's December 27, 2023, correspondence.

'E-mail from Andrew Schroedter, Investigative Producer, Chicago's Very Own WGN, to Alison Key, [Village Clerk, Village of Dolton] (November 29, 2023).

On January 11, 2024, the Public Access Bureau sent via U.S. Postal Mail a letter to the Village's Freedom of Information O>cer stating that this o>ce had not received a response to its December 27, 2023, letter; the correspondence included a copy of the December 27, 2023, letter and again requested a response.’ This o>ce also e-mailed a copy of that correspondence to the FOIA O>cer's e-mail address.* The Village did not respond to the Public Access Bureau's January 11, 2024, letter. On January 26, 2024, the Public Access Counselor in the Public Access Bureau sent an e-mail to the FOIA O>cer inquiring about the status of its response to Mr. Schroedter's November 29, 2023, FOIA request; the FOIA O>cer did not respond.”

On January 29, 2024, Mr. Schroedter sent this o>ce correspondence which indicated that he still had not received a response to the November 29, 2023, FOIA request at issue in this matter.!° On January 30, 2024, the Village e-mailed Mr. Schroedter a letter, dated January 17, 2024, which asserted that the Village has located Fve pages of records responsive to his request, and further asserted that those pages, with redactions, were attached to the letter.!' Mr. Schroedter responded to that e-mail, alerting the Village that there were no records attached to its e-mail, and asking how a request seeking copies of payments to the Mayor, a vehicle lease, and Fve months of credit card statements, could total only Fve pages of responsive records.” The Village acknowledged receipt of that e-mail but did not provide Mr. Schroedter the Fve pages of records, or any other records.'* As of the date of the issuance of this binding opinion, this o>ce has not received conFrmation or any indication from the Village or Mr. Schroedter that the Village has substantively responded to the FOIA request.

ANALYSIS

"It is a fundamental obligation of government to operate openly and provide public records as expediently and e>ciently as possible in compliance with [FOIA]." 5 ILCS 140/1 (West 2022). Under section |.2 of FOIA (5 ILCS 140/1.2 (West 2022)), "[a]ll records in the custody or possession of a public body are presumed to be open to inspection or copying."

Section 3(a) of FOIA (5 ILCS 140/3(a) (West 2022)) provides that "[e]ach public body shall make available to any person for inspection or copying all public records, except as otherwise provided in Sections 7 and 8.5 of this Act." Section 3(d) of FOIA further provides:

Each public body shall, promptly, either comply with or deny a request for public records within 5 business days after its receipt of the request, unless the time for response is properly extended under subsection (e) of this Section. Denial shall be in writing as provided in Section 9 of this Act. Failure to comply with a written request, extend the time for response, or deny a request within 5 business days after its receipt shall be considered a denial of the request. A public body that fails to respond to a request within the requisite periods in this Section but thereafter provides the requester with copies of the requested public records may not impose a fee for such copies. A public body that fails to respond to a request received may not treat the request as unduly burdensome under subsection (g).

Section 3(e) of FOIA (5 ILCS 140/3(e) (West 2022)) permits a public body to extend its response time by no more than Fve business days for any of seven enumerated reasons. Any additional extension requires a written agreement between the requester and the public body. 5 ILCS 140/3(e) (West 2022).

It is undisputed that the Village did not respond to Mr. Schroedter's November 29, 2023, FOIA request within Fve business days after its receipt by either complying with the request, extending the time for its response pursuant to section 3(e) of FOIA, or denying the request in writing. The Village's letter dated January 17, 2024, to Mr. Schroedter was not accompanied by any responsive records. The failure of the Village to comply with the requisite response procedures violated section 3(d) of FOIA.

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

After full examination and giving due consideration to the information submitted, the Public Access Counselor's review, and the applicable law, the Attorney General Fnds that:

1) On November 29, 2023, Mr. Andrew Schroedter, on behalf of WGN-TV, submitted a FOIA request to the Village of Dolton seeking copies of records showing payments made to the Village Mayor, the lease for the Mayor's village vehicle, and monthly credit card statements from June 1, 2023, to the date of the request.

2) On December 15, 2023, Mr. Schroedter submitted the documents required to Fle a Request for Review with the Public Access Counselor alleging that the Village had not responded to his FOIA request. Mr. Schroedter's Request for Review was timely Fled and otherwise complies with the requirements of section 9.5(a) of FOIA (5 ILCS 140/9.5(a) (West 2022)). Therefore, the Attorney General may properly issue a binding opinion with respect to this matter.

3) On December 27, 2023, the Public Access Bureau forwarded a copy of the Request for Review to the Village along with a letter asking whether the Village had responded to Mr. Schroedter's FOIA request. The Village did not respond.

4) On January 11, 2024, the Public Access Bureau sent a second letter to the Village's FOIA o>cer, via both e-mail and U.S. Postal Mail, stating that the Public Access Bureau had not received any indication that the Village had responded to Mr. Schroedter's FOIA request. The Village did not respond.

5) On January 26, 2024, the Public Access Counselor e-mailed the Village's FOIA O>cer requesting an update on the status of the Village's response to the request. The Village did not respond.

6) On January 30, 2024, the Village e-mailed Mr. Schroedter a letter stating that copies of Fve pages of records with redactions were attached. However, no records were attached to that e-mail.

7) As of the date of the issuance of this binding opinion, this o>ce has received no information indicating that the Village has responded to Mr. Schroedter's November 29, 2023, FOIA request.

Therefore, it is the opinion of the Attorney General that the Village of Dolton has violated section 3(d) of FOIA by failing, within the statutory time for responding to Mr.

Schroedter's November 29, 2023, FOIA request, to provide copies of the requested records or to deny the request in writing in whole or in part. Accordingly, the Village is hereby directed to take immediate and appropriate action to comply with this opinion by providing Mr. Schroedter with copies of all records responsive to each part of the November 29, 2023, request, subject only to permissible redactions, if any, under section 7 of FOIA (5 ILCS 140/7 (West 2022), as amended by Public Acts 103-154, e@ective June 30, 2023; 103-423, e@ective January 1, 2024;

103-462, e@ective August 4, 2023; 103-446, e@ective August 4, 2023; 103-540, e@ective January 1, 2024; 103-554, e@ective January 1, 2024).'* If the Village determines that any portion of the responsive records is exempt from disclosure under section 7, it is directed to issue a written denial that fully complies with the requirements of section 9(a) of FOIA (5 ILCS 140/9(a) (West 2022)), This opinion shall be considered a Fnal decision of an administrative agency for the purposes of administrative review under the Administrative Review Law. 735 ILCS 5/3-101 et seq. (West 2022). An aggrieved party may obtain judicial review of the decision by Fling a complaint for administrative review with the Circuit Court of Cook County or Sangamon County within 35 days of the date of this decision naming the Attorney General of Illinois and Mr. Andrew Schroedter as defendants. See 5 ILCS 140/11.5 (West 2022).

Sincerely, KWAME RAOUL ATTORNEY GENER (lak — al D. Stratton Chief Deputy Attorney General served a copy of the foregoing Binding Opinion (Public Access Opinion 24-002) upon:

Mr. Andrew Schroedter Investigative Producer WGN-TV 2501 West Bradley Place Chicago, Illinois 60618 [email protected] Freedom of Information O>cer Village of Dolton 14122 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Dolton, Illinois 60419 [email protected] by causing a true copy thereof to be sent electronically to the addresses as listed above and by causing to be mailed a true copy thereof in correctly addressed, prepaid envelopes to be deposited in the United States mail at Chicago, Illinois on February 9, 2024.