FOIADetermination Letter (non-binding)No violationFees & Burdensome Requests

University of Illinois properly charged voluminous-request fee for electronic PDF file

The requester sought writer reviews from the UIUC Writers Workshop and disputed the University's voluminous request designation and fee assessment.

Date issued: July 15, 2024
Request number(s): 81922
Public body: University of Illinois
Statute(s): 5 ILCS 140/3.6 5 ILCS 140/6
Outcome: No violation found

Plain-language summary

This determination addresses whether a public body properly charged fees under FOIA's voluminous-request provisions. The Public Access Bureau held that the University of Illinois properly designated the request as voluminous under 5 ILCS 140/2(h) and 3.6(a), because the requester had submitted more than five categories of records requests within twenty business days, and that the $20 fee charged under 5 ILCS 140/6(a-5) for the resulting electronic file was proper. The reasoning establishes that once a request qualifies as voluminous, a public body may charge the statutory fee for the data size of the responsive electronic file regardless of whether it is produced in PDF or another format, since the fee schedule applies similarly to both. The Bureau found the Request for Review unfounded and closed the matter without ordering any relief.

Legal question

Whether the University of Illinois properly designated a FOIA request as 'voluminous' and assessed fees pursuant to 5 ILCS 140/3.6.

Holding

A public body may lawfully charge the fee authorized under 5 ILCS 140/6(a-5) for a properly designated voluminous request, regardless of whether the responsive electronic file is provided in PDF or another format, because the statute permits comparable fees for both.

Summary

The requester challenged the University of Illinois's classification of their request as 'voluminous' and the subsequent assessment of fees. The PAC determined that the University acted in accordance with FOIA in designating the request as voluminous and charging the associated fees.

voluminous requestFOIA feesUniversity of Illinoisrecords request

Reading view (1,036 words)

This reading view follows the source PDF's positioned text blocks. Page headers, repeated office furniture, and lower-margin notes are kept out of the narrative; source notes are available below. Reconstruction is automatic and imperfect — the PDF is the authoritative version, and it's linked on this page.

Dear

This determination is issued pursuant to section 9.5(c) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 1 For the reasons explained below, this office has determined that your Request for Review is unfounded.

On May 15, 2024, you submitted a FOIA request to the University of Illinois University) seeking " all writer reviews of for the spring 2024 semester at UIUC Writers Workshop[.]" 2 On May 22, 2024, the University informed you that it designated your request as " voluminous" pursuant to section 3.6 of FOIA. 3 The University notified you that you had ten business days to amend your request such that it would no longer be a voluminous request. It also stated:

If you do not respond by this date, or if you do respond but your request continues to be a voluminous request, the University will proceed in processing this request and will impose any fees allowable pursuant to Section 6 of the Act (5 ILCS 140/6). Even if you fail to accept or collect the responsive records, the University may still charge you for the response pursuant to Section 6 of the On June 23, 2024, the University informed you that it had located information responsive to your request and that the fees, pursuant to section 6(a-5) of FOIA, 5 totaled $ 20.00. On June 25, 2024, this office received your Request for Review challenging the fees.

Section 3.6(a) of FOIA governs " voluminous requests." 6 Section 2(h) of FOIA 7 defines " voluminous request" as a request that:

i) includes more than 5 individual requests for more than 5 different categories of records or a combination of individual requests that total requests for more than 5 different categories of records in a period of 20 business days; or ii) requires the compilation of more than 500 letter or legal- sized pages of public records unless a single requested record exceeds 500 pages. " Single requested record" may include, but is not limited to, one report, form, e-mail, letter, memorandum, book, map, microfilm, tape, or recording. ( Emphasis added.)

Upon this office's request, the University provided the Public Access Bureau with a copy of a spreadsheet tracking the 60 FOIA requests you made between April 22, 2024, and May 15, 2024. This office's review of the spreadsheet confirmed that you have submitted requests for more than 5 different categories of records in a period of less than 20 business days. Because your request is voluminous, the University may charge fees pursuant to section 6(a-5) of FOIA, which states:

If a voluminous request is for electronic records and those records are not in a portable document format ( PDF), the public body may charge up to $20 for not more than 2 megabytes of data, up to $40 for more than 2 but not more than 4 megabytes of data, and up to $100 for more than 4 megabytes of data. If a voluminous request is for electronic The University informed this office that the CSV file responsive to your request is 12 kilobytes, or 0.012 megabytes. Accordingly, because the file is not a PDF and is less than 2 megabytes, the University may charge you $20.00. You appear to assert that the University cannot charge fees for the CSV file because the information also exists in PDF. To the contrary, as quoted above, the University may also charge fees for PDFs pursuant to section 6(a-5), up to 20.00 for a PDF not larger than 80 megabytes. In other words, the cost would be the same whether the University provided the file in CSV or PDF. Accordingly, the Public Access Bureau has determined that the University' s fees are proper and that your Request for Review is unfounded. Please note that section 3.6(e) of FOIA states:

If a requester does not pay a fee charged pursuant to Section 6 of this Act for a voluminous request, the debt shall be considered a debt due and owing to the public body and may be collected in accordance with applicable law. This fee may be charged by the public body even if the requester fails to accept or collect records the public body has prepared in response to a voluminous request. 5 ILCS 140/3.6(e) (West 2022).

This matter is closed. Please contact me at laura.harter@ilag. gov if you have any questions.

Very truly yours, LAURA S. HARTER Deputy Bureau Chief Public Access Bureau 81922 f unf univ

Notes from the original PDF (3)

15 ILCS 140/9.5(c) (West 2022), as amended by Public Act 103-069, effective January 1, 2024.
2E-mail from to [University of Illinois FOIA] ( May 15, 2024). 35 ILCS 140/3.6 (West 2022).
4Letter from Adrienne Nazon, Vice President, External Relations and Communications and Chief Records Officer, to May 22, 2024), at [1]. 55 ILCS 140/6(a-5) (West 2022). 65 ILCS 140/3.6(a) ( West 2022). 75 ILCS 140/2(h) (West 2022).