(A) When a person requests a copy of a record maintained in an electronic format, the county shall furnish it in the electronic format specified by the requester, if feasible. If it is not feasible to furnish the public records in the specified electronic format, then the county shall furnish it in the format in which it is maintained by the county, or in paper format at the option of the requester. The county may charge the requester for the actual cost of purchasing the recording medium, whether disc, diskette, tape, or other medium. If a request is not a request for a commercial purpose or a voluminous request, a county may not charge the requester for the costs of any search for and review of the records or other personnel costs associated with reproducing the records. Except to the extent that the General Assembly expressly provides, statutory fees applicable to copies of public records when furnished in a paper format shall not be applicable to those records when furnished in an electronic format.
(1) If a voluminous request is for electronic records and those records are not in a portable document format (PDF), the county may charge up to $20 for not more than two megabytes of data, up to $40 for more than two but not more than four megabytes of data, and up to $100 for more than four megabytes of data. If a voluminous request is for electronic records and those records are in a portable document format, the county may charge up to $20 for not more than 80 megabytes of data, up to $40 for more than 80 megabytes but not more than 160 megabytes of data, and up to $100 for more than 160 megabytes of data. If the responsive electronic records are in both a portable document format and not in a portable document format, the county may separate the fees and charge the requester under both fee scales.
(2) If a county imposes a fee pursuant to division (A)(1), it must provide the requestor with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel hours in connection with the request for public records.
(B) Except when a fee is otherwise fixed by statute, the county may charge fees reasonably calculated to reimburse its actual cost for reproducing and certifying public records and for the use, by any person, of the equipment of the county to copy records. No fees shall be charged for the first 50 pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies requested by a requester. The fee for black and white, letter or legal sized copies shall not exceed $0.15 per page. If the county provides copies in color or in a size other than letter or legal, the county may not charge more than its actual cost for reproducing the records. In calculating its actual cost for reproducing records or for the use of the equipment of the county to reproduce records, the county shall not include the costs of any search for and review of the records or other personnel costs associated with reproducing the records, except for commercial requests as provided in division (F) below. The fees shall be imposed according to a standard scale of fees, established and made public by the county imposing them. The cost for certifying a record shall not exceed $1.
(C) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge, as determined by the county, if the person requesting the documents states the specific purpose for the request and indicates that a waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest. Waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest if the principal purpose of the request is to access and disseminate information regarding the health, safety and welfare or the legal rights of the general public
and is not for the principal purpose of personal or commercial benefit. For purposes of this division, COMMERCIAL BENEFIT shall not apply to requests made by news media when the principal purpose of the request is to access and disseminate information regarding the health, safety, and welfare or the legal rights of the general public. In setting the amount of the waiver or reduction, the county may take into consideration the amount of materials requested and the cost of copying them.
(D) The imposition of a fee not consistent with divisions (A) and (B) above constitutes a denial of access to public records for the purposes of judicial review.
(E) The fee for each abstract of a driver's record shall be as provided in § 6-118 of The Illinois Vehicle Code, being ILCS Ch. 625, Act 5, approved 9-29-1969, as amended, whether furnished as a paper copy or as an electronic copy.
(F) The county may charge up to $10 for each hour spent by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested record or examining the records for necessary redactions. No fees shall be charged for the first eight hours spent by personnel in searching for or retrieving a requested record. The county may charge the actual cost of retrieving and transporting public records from an off-site storage facility when the public records are maintained by a third-party storage company under contract with the county. If the county imposes a fee pursuant to this division, it must provide the requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel hours in connection with the request for public records. The provisions of this division apply only to commercial requests.
(ILCS Ch. 5, Act 140, § 6)