Freedom of Information Act

FOIA

The Illinois Freedom of Information Act, also known as FOIA, makes the government more transparent to the citizens of Illinois by guaranteeing access to government records in the form in which they are maintained. Generally, the Illinois FOIA provides access to government information while protecting the legitimate interests of government and the privacy rights of citizens.

The Township will respond to all Freedom of Information requests within five working days of its receipt. If additional time is needed, you will be notified of the Township's intent to respond within an additional five working days as permitted under the Act. If any of the materials you have requested are exempt under the Act, you will be notified in writing of the specific exemption which applies to the documents, and you will be provided with all non-exempt materials.

Pursuant to Section 6 of the Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/6), in response to requests for records made pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, the Township of Proviso may charge for the requester the following fees:

1) The actual cost of purchasing the recording medium, whether disc, diskette, tape or other medium, if requested to be provided in such format.

2) Up to $20.00 for not more than 2 megabytes of data, up to $40.00 for more than 2 megabytes of data but not more than 4 megabytes of data, up to $100.00 for more than 4 megabytes of data, if a voluminous request is for electronic records and those records are not in a portable document format (PDF).

3) Up to $20.00 for not more than 80 megabytes of data, up to $40.00 for more than 80 megabytes of data but not more than 160 megabytes of data, up to $100.00 for more than 160 megabytes of data, if a voluminous request is for electronic records and those records are in a portable document format (PDF).

4) Any fees reasonably calculated to reimburse the actual cost to the Township of Proviso for reproducing and certifying public records and for the use, by any person, of the equipment of the Township of Proviso to copy records.

5) $0.15 for black and white copies for each page in excess of 50 pages or the actual cost for color copies in excess of 50 pages.

6) For commercial requests, up to $10.00 for each hour spent by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested record or examining the record for necessary redactions for each hour in excess of 8 hours.



7) For commercial requests, 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 Township of Proviso.

FOIA Officers

FOIA request