Madison County Treasurer's Office not required to create website usage report

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Dear Mr. Borders, and Mr. Lading:

T] he number of page views and the length of time any computer located in the Madison County Treasurer' s office ( this does not have to be county computer) spent on the following websites between June 1, 2014 and Oct. 2, 2014.

1) http:// www. suarezchemetco. com/ ( any page beginning with this URL)

2) https:// www. godaddy. com/ ( any page beginning with this URL)

If the information is available ( entry time/ exit time?), I don't need a sum of time spent on the various sites, an ugly download, in a CSV or text file or etc., of relevant information will work for me. I can do the math.' On October 29, 2014, the Treasurer' s Office denied request, asserting that the request was not for a public record pertaining to the transaction of public business. In his Request for Review, contested the denial.

On November 5, 2014, this office forwarded a copy of Request for Review to the Treasurer' s Office and asked it to provide a detailed explanation of its denial. On November 25, 2014, Mr. Philip J. Lading, Assistant State' s Attorney for Madison County, responded on behalf of the Treasurer' s Office. On December 29, 2014, this office forwarded a copy of the response by the Treasurer' s Office' s to On January 6, 2015, physicalform or characteristics, having been prepared by orfor, or having been or being used by, received by, in the possession of, or under the control of any public body. 5 ILCS 140/ 2( c) West 2014).

However, "[ a] request to inspect or copy must reasonably identify a public record and not general data, information, or statistics." Chicago Tribune Co. v. Department ofFinancial and Professional Regulation, 2014 IL App ( 4th) 130427, ¶ 33, 8 N. E. 3d 11, 19 ( 2014). " FOIA was not designed to compel the compilation of data not ordinarily kept by the public body." Hites v. Waubonsee Community College, 2016 IL App ( 2d) 150836, ¶ 75, 56 N.E. 3d 1049, 1065 ( 2016). Further, FOIA does not require a public body to answer questions or generate new records in response to a FOIA request. Kenyon v. Garrels, 184111. App. 3d 28, 32 ( 4th Dist. 1989).

FOIA request asked the Treasurer' s Office for the number of page views and the length of time any computer located in the Treasurer' s Office spent on two websites. In his FOIA request, stated he would accept a download of the information, and did not need a sum of the time spent on the sites. In its response to this office, the Treasurer' s Office contends that did not request public records within the meaning of FOIA, but rather requested " web searches or time spent on certain websites." 2 The Treasurer' s Office also asserts that request requires the Treasurer' s Office to affirmatively create documents" but that FOIA does not obligate it to " create any document which does not already exist. i3 asserts that "[ t]he fact that the computers, servers and all other equipment used to facilitate the connection to the internet are public property make the recorded electronic data public record.i4 In Martinez v. Cook County State' s Attorney's Office, 2018 IL App ( 1st) 163153, N. E. 3d _ ( 2018), the plaintiff sought records related to "' each instance in which information compel the compilation of data defendant does not ordinarily keep." Martinez, 2018 IL App 1st) 163153, 1125, N. E. 3d at .

Similarly, FOIA request seeks general data concerning internet usage rather than an existing record maintained in the ordinary course of business. This is not an instance in which a requester seeks raw data that a public body previously compiled and may access by searching a database; such requests are for records subject to disclosure under FOIA. See Hites, 2016 IL App ( 2d) 150836, ¶¶ 75- 80, 56 N.E.3d at 1065- 66 ( raw data that was previously compiled and available through computerized searches of a database are subject to disclosure, but a public body is not required to create a listing of a database search or the tallying of numbers). Instead, request would require the Treasurer' s Office to compile data from all computers in its offices regarding the use of certain websites. Because request seeks data scattered in various computers rather than reasonably describing a record that the Treasurer' s Office maintains in the ordinary course of business, this office concludes that the Treasurer' s Office response to request did not violate FOIA.

The Public Access Counselor has determined that resolution of this matter does not require the issuance of a binding opinion. This file is closed. If you have any questions, please contact me at 312- 814- 5201 or at the Chicago address listed on the first page of this letter.

RG Assistant Attorney General Public Access Bureau