(A) The Village Clerk is hereby designated as the responsible officer under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, being 5 ILCS 140 et seq., “FOIA Officer” to whom all initial requests for access to the records of the village are to be referred. Such requests are to be made at the office of the Village Clerk at 110 W. Central Avenue, Atwood, Illinois, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday and between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon on Friday. In the event that the Village Clerk is not available during the times described above, the Village Treasurer is designated as the Deputy FOIA Officer to whom such initial requests are to be made. Except in instances when records are furnished immediately the FOIA Officer, or his or her designees, shall receive requests submitted to the village under the Freedom of Information Act to ensure that the village responds to requests in a timely fashion, and issue responses under the Act. The FOIA Officer shall develop a list of documents or categories of records that the village shall immediately disclose upon request.
(B) Upon receiving a request for a public record, the FOIA Officer shall:
(1) Note the date the village received the written request;
(2) Compute the day on which the date for response will expire and make a notation of that date on the written request;
(3) Maintain an electronic or paper copy of the written request, including all documents submitted with the request until the request has been complied with or denied; and
(4) Create a file for the retention of the original request, a copy of the response, a record of written communications with the requester, and a copy of other communications.
(C) The FOIA Officer and Deputy FOIA Officer shall, within six months after January 1, 2010, successfully complete an electronic training curriculum to be developed by the Public Access Counselor of the state and thereafter successfully complete an annual training program. Whenever a new Freedom of Information Officer is designated by the village, that person shall successfully complete the electronic training curriculum within 30 days of assuming the position.
(D) Any records which are the subject of a request under the Freedom of Information Act shall be retrieved from such place as they are stored by the FOIA Officer or by an employee of the village acting under the direction of the FOIA Officer. In no event shall records be retrieved by the party requesting them or by any person who is not employed by the village.
(E) If copies of records are requested, the fees for such copies, whether certified or not, shall be as determined from time to time by the FOIA Officer pursuant to § 6(b) of the Freedom of Information Act, being 5 ILCS 140 et seq. The Village Clerk shall maintain a written schedule of current fees in the Clerk’s office. The fees so charged shall reflect the actual cost of copying the records and the cost of certifying copies, if certification is requested.
(F) In the event that a request to inspect village records is denied by the FOIA Officer, the denial may be appealed to the Public Access Counselor of the state.
(G) The Village Clerk shall prepare:
(1) A village information directory;
(2) A block diagram of the functional subdivisions of the village;
(3) A village records directory; and
(4) A records catalogue, all of which shall be substantially in the same form as the documents attached hereto and to the ordinance codified herein as Exhibits “A”, “B”, “C”, and “D”. This information shall also be posted on the village’s website.
(Ord. 10-O-2, passed 4-26-2010)