FOIA section 6(a-5)

FOIA

Fees for voluminous electronic requests

5 ILCS 140/6(a-5). Fees for voluminous electronic requests

3 issues across 3 determination letters:3 no violation.

Counts are per issue, not per letter, and come from automated extraction checked against sampled letters. Determination letters are not binding precedent.

Drafting brief for an AI assistant

Copy this into your assistant to help draft a request, appeal, or challenge to a denial that turns on this issue. It carries the rules and decisions, not your facts: add those yourself. Machine-readable version: foia-6-a-5.json.

TOPIC: 5 ILCS 140/6(a-5) - Fees for voluminous electronic requests
SOURCE: Illinois Attorney General Public Access Bureau decisions compiled at https://illinoisfoia.org/provisions/foia-6-a-5/
NOTE: Determination letters are not binding precedent; they show how the Bureau applies the law. Verify every decision against the source PDF before citing it.

NO VIOLATION (3):
- Fees for electronic records
  Rule: A public body may charge fees for electronic records in response to a voluminous request, but must provide an accounting if fees are imposed.
  Decision: Aggregation of multiple FOIA requests as voluminous (non-binding determination letter, March 3, 2025) https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-85334/
- Fee amount for CSV file under voluminous request
  Rule: For a voluminous electronic request not in PDF and under 2 megabytes, a public body may charge up to $20.
  Decision: Writer reviews from a university (non-binding determination letter, July 15, 2024) https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-81922/
- FOIA fee for voluminous electronic records
  Rule: A public body may charge up to $20 for a voluminous request of electronic records in PDF format not exceeding 80 megabytes.
  Decision: Fee calculation for a voluminous electronic records request (non-binding determination letter, April 25, 2024) https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-72599/



TASK FOR THE ASSISTANT: Using only the decisions above, help draft a letter. Argue from the rule and cite the decision by name and date. Do not invent decisions.

No violation (3)

Fees for electronic records
Rule: A public body may charge fees for electronic records in response to a voluminous request, but must provide an accounting if fees are imposed.
No violation Aggregation of multiple FOIA requests as voluminous · March 3, 2025
Fee amount for CSV file under voluminous request
Rule: For a voluminous electronic request not in PDF and under 2 megabytes, a public body may charge up to $20.
No violation Writer reviews from a university · July 15, 2024
FOIA fee for voluminous electronic records
Rule: A public body may charge up to $20 for a voluminous request of electronic records in PDF format not exceeding 80 megabytes.
No violation Fee calculation for a voluminous electronic records request · April 25, 2024