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1. What is the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?

The Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140, addresses the public's right to access public records that are created, compiled, or kept by government bodies. The Village of Indian Head Park must provide public records unless there is an exemption in the Act that protects those records from disclosure. The Act doesn't require the Village to create any public records it doesn't already have.

2. What kind of information is considered a public record and can be requested through a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request?

The Village of Indian Head Park is a public body and with certain exceptions, most of our information is available for disclosure. If you don't see something you are looking for about the Village on our website, please contact the Village Administrator, John Durocher.

3. Why would a FOIA request be considered "unduly burdensome"?

A request would be considered unduly burdensome if the production of documents outweighs the public interest in the information. The Village of Indian Head Park must give the requester the opportunity to narrow the scope of the request to a manageable size.

4. What is considered a voluminous FOIA request?

A voluminous request is one that includes more than five (5) individual requests for more than five (5) different categories of records or a combination of individual requests that total requests for more than five (5) different categories of records in a period of twenty (20) business days. A voluminous request can also be a request which requires the compilation of more than 500 letter or legal-sized pages of public records unless a single requested record (one report, form or letter) exceeds 500 pages.

5. What kinds of fees, if any, are associated with a FOIA request?

The Village of Indian Head Park charges the following fees to individuals who are not voluminous requestors nor requesting the information for commercial purposes.

For black and white, letter and/or legal-sized copies, the first 50 pages are free and each additional page is 15 cents. For color copies, abnormal-sized copies, copies made by a 3rd party and electronic copies copied to electronic media (disc, USB flash drive, or other media), the Village can charge the actual cost of copying.

6. How many days will it take the Village to respond to my FOIA request?

The Village of Indian Head Park has five (5) business days (not including weekends and holidays) from the day after it receives the request to respond. That deadline may be extended for an additional five (5) business from the date of the original due date if:
- The requested documents are stored off-site
- A substantial number of documents are required to fulfill the request
- The request requires an extensive search of documents
- The requested documents have not been located and require additional effort to find
- The requested documents need to be reviewed by staff to determine whether all or part of individual documents are exempt and may not be disclosed

If additional time is needed, the Village of Indian Head Park must notify the requester in writing within 5 business days after the receipt of the request detailing the reasons for the extension and when the documents will be produced.