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(A) The village hereby establishes and shall 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 village to copy records. Such fees exclude the costs of any search for and review of the record, and shall not exceed the actual cost of reproduction and certification, unless otherwise provided by state statute. The charge for copying shall be $0.10 per page for photocopies, $0.05 per page for computer printouts and $2.50 per audio tape, CD or DVD. No fees shall be charged for the first 50 pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies requested by a requestor. If the village provides copies in color or in a size other than letter or legal, it shall charge the actual cost for reproducing the records. In calculating the actual cost for reproducing records or for the use of the equipment of the village to reproduce the records, the village shall not include the costs of any search for and review of the records or other personnel costs associated with reproducing the records. The cost for certifying a record shall be $1.
(B) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge where the village determines that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest because furnishing information can be considered as primarily benefitting the general public. 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 (B), 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 village may take into consideration the amount of materials requested and the cost of copying them.
(Prior Code, § 40.007) (Ord. 2010-001, passed 1-4-2010)
(A) Compliance with request (non-commercial purpose). The village shall either comply with or deny a request for public records within five business days after its receipt. If the village fails to respond to a request within the requisite periods in this section, but thereafter provides the requester with copies of the requested public records it may not impose a fee for such copies. If the village fails to respond to a request received it may not treat the request as unduly burdensome under § 35.39 of this chapter. Denials shall be in writing and in accordance with § 35.41 of this chapter.
(B) Compliance with request (commercial purpose). The village shall respond to a request for records to be used for a commercial purpose within 21 working days after receipt. The response shall:
(1) Provide to the requestor an estimate of the time required by the village to provide the records requested and an estimate of the fees to be charged, which the village may require the person to pay in full before copying the requested documents;
(2) Deny the request pursuant to one or more of the exemptions set out in this subchapter;
(3) Notify the requestor that the request is unduly burdensome and extend an opportunity to the requestor to attempt to reduce the request to manageable proportions; or
(4) Provide the records requested.
(C) Compliance. Unless the records are exempt from disclosure, the village shall comply with a request within a reasonable period considering the size and complexity of the request, and giving priority to records requested for non-commercial purposes. No person shall knowingly obtain a public record for a commercial purpose without disclosing that it is for a commercial purpose, if requested to do so by the village.
(Prior Code, § 40.008) (Ord. 2010-001, passed 1-4-2010)
(A) The time limit prescribed in § 35.37(A) of this chapter may be extended in each case for not more than five additional business days from the original due date for any of the following reasons:
(1) The requested records are stored in whole or in part at other locations other than the office having charge of the requested records;
(2) The request requires the collection of a substantial number of specified records;
(3) The request is couched in categorical terms and requires an extensive search for the records responsive to it;
(4) The requested records have not been located in the course of routine search and additional efforts are being made to locate them;
(5) The requested records require examination and evaluation by personnel having the necessary competence and discretion to determine if they are exempt from disclosure under the terms of the State Freedom of Information Act or should be revealed only with appropriate deletions;
(6) The request for records cannot be complied with by the village within the time limits prescribed by the foregoing paragraph without unduly burdening or interfering with the operations of the village; and/or
(7) There is a need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, with another public body or among two or more components of a public body having a substantial interest in the determination or in the subject matter of the request.
(B) The person making a request and the village may agree in writing to extend the time for compliance for a period to be determined by the parties. If the requestor and the village agree to extend the period for compliance, a failure by the village to comply with any previous deadlines shall not be treated as a denial of the request for the records.
(C) When additional time is required for any of the above reasons, the FOIA Officer shall notify the person making the request, by letter, within the five business days after receipt of the request, of the reasons for the delay and the date by which the records will be made available or denial will be forthcoming. In no instance may the delay in processing last longer than five business days. A failure to render a decision within the time permitted for extension shall be considered a denial of the request.
(D) If the village fails to respond to a request within the time permitted for extension but thereafter provides the requestor with copies of the requested public records, the village may not impose a fee for those copies. If the village requests an extension and subsequently fails to respond to the request, it may not treat the request as unduly burdensome under § 35.39 of this chapter.
(Prior Code, § 40.009) (Ord. 2010-001, passed 1-4-2010)
(A) Requests calling for all records falling within a category shall be complied with unless compliance with the request would be unduly burdensome for the village, there is no method of narrowing the request, and the burden on the village strongly outweighs the public interest in the information. Before invoking this exemption, the village shall extend to the person making the request an opportunity to confer with it in an attempt to reduce the request to manageable proportions. If the village responds to a categorical request by stating that compliance would unduly burden its operation and the conditions described above are met, it shall do so in a writing signed by the FOIA Officer specifying the reasons why it would be unduly burdensome and the extent to which compliance will so burden the operation of the village. Such a response shall be treated as a denial of the request for information.
(B) Repeated requests for the same public records by the same person shall be deemed unduly burdensome. Repeated requests from the same person for the same records that are unchanged or identical to records previously provided or properly denied under this subchapter shall be deemed unduly burdensome.
(Prior Code, § 40.010) (Ord. 2010-001, passed 1-4-2010)
(A) Information exempted by§§ 7 and 7.5 of the Freedom of Information Act shall be exempt from inspection and copying. If a record contains both exempt and non-exempt information, the village may elect to redact the information that is exempt and make the remainder of the record available for inspection and copying.
(B) Moreover, information described in the definition for “public record” may be withheld if it is determined that disclosure would:
(1) Interfere with pending or actually and reasonably contemplated law enforcement proceedings conducted by any law enforcement agency;
(2) Endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement or correctional personnel or any other person; or
(3) Compromise the security of any correctional facility.
(Prior Code, § 40.011) (Ord. 2010-001, passed 1-4-2010)
(A) The FOIA Officer, when denying a request for public record, shall notify the requestor, by letter, of the decision to deny the information, the reason for the denial, including a detailed factual basis for the application of any exemption claimed, and the names and titles or positions of each person responsible for the denial.
(B) Each notice of denial by the FOIA Officer shall inform the person of the right to review by the public access counselor and provide the address and phone number for the public access counselor.
(C) Each notice of denial shall also inform such person of his or her right to judicial review in accordance with § 11 of the Freedom of Information Act.
(D) When a request is denied on the grounds that the records are exempt under the provisions of this subchapter, the notice of denial shall specify the exemption claimed to authorize the denial and briefly explain how the exemption applies to the specified records withheld.
(E) Copies of all notices of denials shall be retained by the village in a single central office file that is open to the public and indexed according to the type of exemption asserted and, to the extent feasible, according to the types of records requested.
(Prior Code, § 40.012) (Ord. 2010-001, passed 1-4-2010)
(A) A person whose request to inspect or copy a public record is denied by the village may file a request for review with the public access counselor established in the office of the Attorney General not later than 60 days after the date of the final denial. The request for review must be in writing, signed by the requester, and include:
(1) A copy of the request for access to records; and
(2) Any responses from the public body.
(B) If the village receives a request for records, and asserts that the records are exempt under general exemptions (1)(C) or (1)(F), it shall, within the time periods provided for responding to a request, provide written notice to the requester and the public access counselor of its intent to deny the request in whole or in part. The notice shall include:
(1) A copy of the request for access to records;
(2) The proposed response from the public body; and
(3) A detailed summary of the public body’s basis for asserting the exemption.
(C) In accordance with FOIA, upon receipt of a notice of intent to deny from the village, the public access counselor determines whether further inquiry is warranted. Within five working days after receipt of the notice of intent to deny, the public access counselor notifies the village and the requester whether further inquiry is warranted. If the public access counselor determines that further inquiry is warranted, the procedures set out in this section regarding the review of denials, including the production of documents, shall also be applicable to the inquiry and resolution of a notice of intent to deny from the village. Times for response or compliance by the village under §§ 35.37 and 35.38 of this chapter shall be tolled until the public access counselor concludes his or her inquiry.
(D) In accordance with FOIA, upon receipt of a request for review, the public access counselor determines whether further action is warranted. If the public access counselor determines that the alleged violation is unfounded, he or she so advises the requester and the village and no further action shall be undertaken. In all other cases, the public access counselor forwards a copy of the request for review to the village within seven working days after receipt and specifies the records or other documents that the village shall furnish to facilitate the review. Within seven working days after receipt of the request for review, the FOIA Officer shall provide copies of records requested and shall otherwise fully cooperate with the public access counselor. If the FOIA Officer fails to furnish specified records pursuant to this section, or if otherwise necessary, the Attorney General may issue a subpoena to any person or public body having knowledge of or records pertaining to a request for review of a denial of access to records under the Freedom of Information Act. By statute, to the extent that records or documents produced by the village contain information that is claimed to be exempt from disclosure pursuant to § 7 of the Freedom of Information Act, the public access counselor does not further disclose that information.
(E) In accordance with FOIA, within seven working days after it receives a copy of a request for review and request for production of records from the public access counselor, the FOIA Officer may, but is not required to, answer the allegations of the request for review. The answer may take the form of a letter, brief or memorandum. The public access counselor forwards a copy of the answer to the person submitting the request for review, with any alleged confidential information to which the request pertains redacted from the copy. The requester may, but is not required to, respond in writing to the answer within seven working days and shall provide a copy of the response to the village. In addition to the request for review, and the answer and the response thereto, if any, a requester or the village may furnish affidavits or records concerning any matter germane to the review.
(F) (1) In accordance with FOIA, unless the public access counselor extends the time by no more than 21 business days by sending written notice to the requester and the village that includes a statement of the reasons for the extension in the notice, or decides to address the matter without the issuance of a binding opinion, the Attorney General examines the issues and the records, makes findings of fact and conclusions of law, and issues to the requester and the village an opinion in response to the request for review within 60 days after its receipt. The opinion is binding upon both the requester and the village, subject to administrative review under § 11.5 of the Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/11.5).
(2) Upon receipt of a binding opinion concluding that a violation of FOIA has occurred, the FOIA Officer shall either take necessary action immediately to comply with the directive of the opinion or shall initiate administrative review under § 11.5 of FOIA. If the opinion concludes that no violation of FOIA has occurred, the requester may initiate administrative review under § 11.5 of FOIA. If the village discloses records in accordance with an opinion of the Attorney General, it is immune from all liabilities by reason thereof and shall not be liable for penalties under FOIA.
(G) (1) In accordance with FOIA, the Attorney General may also issue advisory opinions to the village regarding compliance with FOIA. A review may be initiated upon receipt of a written request from the Village Mayor or the Village Attorney, which shall contain sufficient accurate facts from which a determination can be made. The public access counselor may request additional information from the village in order to assist in the review.
(2) If the village relies in good faith on an advisory opinion of the Attorney General in responding to a request, it is not liable for penalties under FOIA, so long as the facts upon which the opinion is based have been fully and fairly disclosed to the public access counselor.
(Prior Code, § 40.013) (Ord. 2010-001, passed 1-4-2010)
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