FOIA

Freedom of Information Act for
Offices under the President

About Cook County and the Offices under the President

• Overview of Cook County

• Organizational Chart for Cook County

• Overview of the Office of the President

• Organizational Chart for the Offices under the Jurisdiction of the President

Freedom of Information Requests for Offices Under the President

Members of the public may make requests for inspection or for copies of public records for the Offices Under the President under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 ILCS 140/1 et seq. This Act provides that some records are exempt from inspection and copying.

All Freedom of Information requests submitted to Cook County for Offices under the Jurisdiction of the President must include the following information:

1. The name, mailing address and contact information of the requester;
2. A description of the records that are being requested;
3. Whether the request is for commercial purposes.

    

• Listing of Offices under the President

• FOIA Request form for Offices under the Jurisdiction of the County Board President
  Use of the County’s Freedom of Information Request Form is encouraged, but not required.

• Cook County FOIA Information - for requests to other County offices

• Illinois Freedom of Information Act  "FOIA" (Illinois General Assembly - 5 ILCS 140/1 et seq)

President's Office Policy on FOIA Requests  

1. All requests must be made in writing and should specifically state which public records are desired for inspection and/or copying.  The written request should include the requester’s full name and/or organization, address, telephone number and email address to facilitate communication, discussion regarding the specific information requested and timely responses.

2. FOIA requests will only be considered “received” when the request is physically received by the FOIA Officer at the above listed address, fax number or email address.  
3. Non-Commercial requests for information, as defined under FOIA will be responded to by the FOIA Officer within five business days after receipt of the request by the FOIA Officer. The response may be extended for an additional five business days; the requester will receive a written response stating the reason for the time extension and will notify the requester if an additional time extension is required.
4. Commercial Requests for information as defined under FOIA, will be made within 21 business days after receipt of the request by the FOIA Officer and will provide the requester with an estimated completion date and a fee estimate. Unless the records are exempt, the request will be completed within a reasonable time period based on the size and complexity of the request. Priority shall be given to records requested for non-commercial purposes.  Priority shall be given to records requested for non-commercial purposes.
5. If a person requests a copy of a record maintained in an electronic format, the Office will furnish the record in the electronic format specified by the requester, if feasible.  If it is not feasible to furnish the record in the specified electronic format, then the Office will furnish it in the format in which it is maintained or in paper format, at the option of the requester. The requester must reimburse the office for the actual cost of the recording medium, whether disc, diskette, or other medium.
6. There is no fee for the first 50 pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies. Cook County implements a fee of .15 cents per page for each page of a request that is more than 50 pages; a fee will not be charged for documents that may be scanned and sent electronically or may otherwise be made available by email or where a fee waiver request has been granted.  Should hard copies of the documents be required or requested, the requester must pay the copying fee before the FOIA Officer will release the requested copies. For large requests over 200 pages, the FOIA Officer reserves the right to utilize an outside copying service and require the requester to pay a fee of .15 cents per page to the copying service for requests in excess 50 pages. For requests of color documents and oversized documents, the FOIA Office reserves the right to charge its actual reproduction costs.       
7. Cook County may also charge a fee of $10 for each hour spent by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested commercial record. No fees shall be charged for the first eight hours spent by personnel in searching for or retrieving a requested commercial record. Cook 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 Cook County. The FOIA Officer will provide a requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel hours in connection with the request for public record that may be charged on the commercial request.
8. Cook County provides immediate and/or online access to:
   • Budget and Financial Information
   • Board and Committee Meeting Records
   • Information on Board meetings, proceedings, elected officials,  administrative officials
9. If your request is denied, you will receive a written response stating the reason for the denial.  Denial appeals should be sent to the Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor.