FOIADetermination Letter (non-binding)Closed no further actionFOIA Response Process

PAC closes case after requester filed FOIA complaint against City of Chicago too early

The request sought records concerning the removal of homeless individuals from O'Hare Airport.

Date issued: July 3, 2023
Request number(s): 76927
Public body: City of Chicago Office of the Mayor
Statute(s): 5 ILCS 140/3
Outcome: Closed - premature filing

Plain-language summary

A requester complained to the Attorney General that the City of Chicago was late in responding to a FOIA request. The Attorney General found that the City had correctly calculated its legal deadline, including a holiday, and that the requester had filed the complaint too early. Because the City still had time to respond when the complaint was filed, the PAC closed the case without taking further action.

Legal question

Whether a public body's response to a FOIA request was untimely under 5 ILCS 140/3(d) and (e) when the requester filed a Request for Review before the statutory response deadline had passed.

Holding

The PAC determined that no further action is warranted because the requester filed the Request for Review before the public body's statutory deadline to respond had expired.

Summary

The requester alleged the City of Chicago Mayor's Office failed to timely respond to a FOIA request, but the PAC determined the request for review was filed prematurely because the City's response deadline had not yet passed.

FOIA deadlineresponse timepremature requestbusiness days

Reading view (642 words)

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Dear

This determination letter is issued pursuant to section 9.5(c) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 ILCS 140/9.5(c) (West 2020)). For the reasons set forth below, the Public Access Bureau concludes that no further action is warranted in this matter.

On May 28, 2023, you submitted a FOIA request to the City of Chicago Office of the Mayor (Mayor's Office) seeking records related to the removal of homeless individuals from O'Hare Airport. On June 6, 2023, the Mayor' s Office extended its time to respond to your request by five business days pursuant to section 3(e) of FOIA (5 ILCS 140/3(e) (West 2020)). On June 13, 2023, you submitted a Request for Review alleging that the Mayor' s Office belatedly requested an extension and had not otherwise responded to your FOIA request.

Under section 9.5(a) of FOIA (5 ILCS 140/9.5(a) (West 2020)), only "[a] person whose request to inspect or copy a public record is denied by a public body * * * may file a request for review with the Public Access Counselor * * * not later than 60 days after the date of the final denial." ( Emphasis added.) Section 3(d) of FOIA ( 5 ILCS 140/ 3(d) (West 2020)) provides that "[ e]ach 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." (Emphasis added.) Section 3(e) of FOIA ( 5 ILCS 140/ 3(e) ( West 2020)) permits a public body to extend the time for responding to a request by five business days under certain enumerated circumstances. "[ T]he plain language of FOIA gives a public body in receipt of a records request the unilateral ability to extend its own response deadline by five days." Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, Inc. v. The Board of Education of the City of Chicago, 2018 IL App (1st) 171846, ¶25, 122 N.E.3d 729, 735 2018).

You submitted your FOIA request on May 28, 2023, which was a Sunday. The next day, May 29, 2023, was the Memorial Day holiday, and the Mayor's Office was closed.1 Thus, the City received your request on May 30, 2023, which set the fifth business day after receipt to June 6, 2023. The Mayor's Office properly extended its time to respond to your request by five business days on June 6, 2023. Following this extension, the Mayor' s Office was required to respond by the end of the day on June 13, 2023. Because you submitted your Request for Review on the morning of June 13, 2023, this Request for Review is premature. Accordingly, we have determined that no further inquiry is warranted.

This letter closes this file. If you have any questions, please contact me at benjamin. silver@ilag. gov.

Very truly yours, BENJAMIN J. SILVER Assistant Attorney General Public Access Bureau 76927 f no fi war mun cc: Via electronic mail Mr. Tom Skelton FOIA Officer Office of the Mayor City of Chicago 121 North LaSalle Street, Suite 500 Chicago, Illinois 60601 thomas. skelton@cityofchicago. org

Notes from the original PDF (1)

1See City Holidays (Offices Closed), City of Chicago, available at https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/narr/misc/city-holidays.html (last visited June 30, 2023).