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 letter is issued pursuant to section 9.5(c) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 ILCS 140/9.5(c) (West 2023 Supp.)). For the reasons set forth below, the Public Access Bureau concludes that this Request for Review is unfounded.
On December 2 , 2024, you submitted a FOIA request to the Marion County Assessor's Office (Assessor's Office ) seeking a copy of a Marshall & Swift cost table . On December 9 , 2024 , Mr. Timothy J. Hudspeth, the Marion County States Attorney (State's Attorney), responded to your FOIA request on behalf of the Assessor's Office. In the response, the State's Attorney informed you that the Assessor's Office did not possess or maintain a hard copy of the Marshall & Swift cost table . The States Attorney also explained that " information contained in that table is accessed by making choices/selections in a software program which requires input from the user. The end result is the software program provides a valuation of a subject property." 1 On December 12 , 2024, you submitted your Request for Review contesting the Assessor's Office 's response because you are "seeking access to a copy of the Marshall & Swift cost table embedded in the DEVNET software used by the assessor' s office," which is an integral tool in the assessment process and, therefore, should be accessible under FOIA .2 Administrative or technical information associated with automated data processing operations, including but not limited to software , operating protocols, computer program abstracts, file layouts, source listings, object modules, load modules, user guides, documentation pertaining to all logical and physical design of computerized systems, employee manuals, and any other information that, if disclosed, would jeopardize the security of the system or its data or the security of materials exempt under this Section. (Emphasis added.)
In Chapman v. Chicago Department of Finance , 2023 IL 128300, the Illinois Supreme Court analyzed the scope of section 7(1)(o) and concluded that file layouts are per se exempt from disclosure because they are among the specific forms of administrative or technical information listed in the exemption . Chapman , 2023 IL 128300, ¶ 41. The listed items also include software.
On January 15 , 202 5 , an AAG in the Public Access Bureau spoke to you by telephone regarding the type of record you were seeking. You stated that you were seeking a copy of the Marshall & Swift table that is embedded into the software that the Assessor' s Office uses to calculate assessments. For background you explained that prior to computerization, the Assessor's Office would hand calculate an assessment using a hard copy of the Marshall & Swift cost table. On January 23, 2025, the AAG spoke to the State' s Attorney who explained that the Marshall & Swift cost table is embedded in the DEVNET software the Assessor' s Office uses to calculate assessments . 4 He explained that asking for the embedded cost table is akin to seeking reference material. Subsequently, the State's Attorney informed this office that the DEVNET software in which the table is embedded is copyrighted.
The Marshall & Swift cost table you seek is embedded in the DEVNET software used by the Assessor's Office. Because embedded information is included as part of the software, it is exempt from disclosure under the plain language of section 7(1)(o) of FOIA .
Based on the analysis above, this office has determined that your Request for Review is unfounded. Accordingly, this file is closed. If you have any questions, please contact me at 312-814-5201, [email protected], or at the Chicago address listed on the bottom of the first page of this letter .
Very truly yours, EDIE STEINBERG Senior Assistant Attorney General Public Access Bureau 84329 f unf co cc: Via electronic mail Mr. Timothy J. Hudspeth Marion County States Attorney 100 East Main, Room 107 Salem, Illinois 62881 thudspeth@marionco. illinois. gov
Notes from the original PDF (3)
- 1Letter from Timothy J. Hudspeth, Marion County States Attorney, to December 9, 2024). 2E- mail from to Public Access [ Counselor] ( December 12, 2025).
- 35 ILCS 140/7(1)(o) (West 2023 Supp.), as amended by Public Acts 103 -605, effective July 1, 2024. 4DEVNET is a privately held company providing integrated software and hardware solutions to local government s, including integrated property tax system s, and includes various partnership s with vendors, including Marshall & Swift , whose systems are integrated into DEVNET' s software to ensure seamless workflow for users. DEVNET, ABOUT, available at https:// www.devnetinc.com/ about/ ( last viewed February 28, 2025).
- 517 U.S.C. § 106 (2020). 617 U.S.C. § 107 (2020). 7Because the requested records are exempt under sections 7(1)(a) and 7(1)(o) of FOIA, this office need not address the Assessor'sOffice contention that the Marshall & Swift cost table embedded in the software is reference material, and thus, not a public record.