Freedom of Information Act

Freedom of Information Act

FoIA Officer: Dr. Brandi Anderson-Maier, Superintendent

DePue Unit School District 103

PO Box 800

DePue, IL 61322

DePue Unit School District #103

204 Pleasant St, Po Box 800, DePue, IL 61322

Ph. 815-447-2121 / Fax 815-447-2067

Freedom of Information Act

FOIA Officers:

Superintendent

Principal

FOIA is the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. Under the Illinois Freedom of Information

Act (5 ILCS 140), records in possession of public agencies may be accessed by the

public upon written request. Pursuant to 5 ILCS 140, Section 2(c), “Public records”

means all records, reports, forms, writings, letters, memoranda, books, papers, maps,

photographs, microfilms, cards, tapes, recordings, electronic data processing records,

recorded information and all other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or

characteristics, having been prepared, or having been or being used, received,

possessed or under the control of any public body.

“Public records” includes, but is expressly not limited to: (i) administrative manuals,

procedural rules, and instructions to staff, unless exempted by Section 7(p) of this Act;

(ii) final opinions and orders made in the adjudication of cases, except an educational

institution’s adjudication of student or employee grievance or disciplinary cases; (iii)

substantive rules; (iv) statements and interpretations of policy which have been adopted

by a public body; (v) final planning policies, recommendations, and decisions (vi) factual

reports, inspection reports, and studies whether prepared by or for the public body; (vii)

all information in any account, voucher, or contract dealing with the receipt or

expenditure of public or other funds of public bodies; (viii) the names, salaries, titles,

and dates of employment of all employees and officers of public bodies; (ix) materials

containing opinions concerning the rights of the state, the public, a subdivision of state or

a local government, or of any private persons; (x) the name of every official and the final

records of voting in all proceedings of public bodies; (xi) applications for any contract,

permit, grant, or agreement except as exempted from disclosure by subsection (g) of

Section 7 of this Act

RULES, REGULATIONS, AND PROCEDURES

All public records maintained in the DePue Unit School District #103 shall be made

available to any person for inspection, copying, and certifying as provided in the

following rules, regulations, and procedures adopted by the Regional Superintendent of

Schools with the exceptions as referred to in rule #6.

1 Definitions pertaining to these rules, regulations and procedures shall be

those as provided in the Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 5, ILCS 140/3

2. All requests for the inspection or copying of the above referred to public

records shall be submitted in writing to:

FOIA Officer

204 Pleasant St., PO BOX 800

DePue, IL 61322

Requests may be made by mail, fax, e-mail, or personal delivery. A form is

provided on the District’s website, but not required, to make a request for

records. All requests for inspection or copying of such public records

shall be approved or denied within 5 business days after receipt of the

request, except in unusual cases referred to in Rule #4.

4. The 5-day limit referred to in Rule #3 may be extended for not more than

five additional working days for any of the following reasons:

(a) The requested records are stored in whole or in part at other locations

than the office having charge of the requested records.

(b) The request requires the collection of a substantial number of

specified records.

(c) The request requires an extensive search for the records.

(d) The requested records have not been located and additional efforts

are being made to locate them.

(e) The requested records require examination to determine if they are

exempt from disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be revealed

only with appropriate deletions.

(f) The requested records cannot be produced without unduly burdening

or interfering with the operations of the public body;

(g) The request requires the public body to consult with another public

body that has substantial interest in the subject matter of the request.

Notice of such extension shall be conveyed in writing to the requestor

within the five-day time limit referred to in Rule #3. Notice shall include

the reasons for the delay and the date by which the request will be

approved or denied. In no instance may the delay be longer than five

working days.

5. Requests calling for all records falling within a category will be complied

with unless compliance with the request would be unduly burdensome to

the DePue Unit School District #103. Before invoking this exemption, a

representative of the office shall confer with the person making the

request in an attempt to reduce the request to manageable proportions.

6. Records exempt from inspection and copying are those referred to in the

Illinois Revised Statutes, 5 ILCS 140 Section 7 of Act 140.

7. Any person denied access to inspect or copy any public records in this

office may appeal the denial by filing a request for review with the Public

Access Counselor 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 a copy of the request for access to records and any responses

from the public body. The Public Access Counselor is part of the Public

Access Bureau in the Attorney General’s office.

Public Access Bureau,

500 S. 2nd Street,

Springfield Illinois 62706,

217-558-0486

publicaccess@atg.state.il.us

8. Fees for copying and certifying the public records referred to in these

rules shall be charged as indicated in the schedule contained specified at

the top of the DePue Records Request form.

9. All rules, regulations, and procedures hereby enumerated, referred to, or

implied shall be in conformance with the provisions of “The Freedom of

Information Act,” Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 5, ILCS 140/3.

DePue Freedom of Information Form follows this page.

DEPUE UNIT SCHOOL DISTRICT #103

204 Pleasant St, PO BOX 800,

DePue, IL 61322

FOIA Officers

Superintendent

Principal

Fee Structure

o No fees for the first 50 pages of black and white, letter or legal size paper.

o Fees for additional pages will not be more than 15 cents per page.

o A fee of $1 will be charged for certifying records.

o The actual cost for recording medium will be charged.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

Request for Public Records

FROM: ___________________________________

Name: ____________________________________

Address:

Phone: ___________________________________

DESCRIPTION OF REQUESTED RECORD(S):

Please indicate if you wish to inspect the above captioned records or wish a copy of

them.

______ Inspection ______ Copy ______ Both

Please check if this request for records is being made for a commercial purpose.

Section 2 of the Freedom of Information act states: “Commercial purpose means the use

of any part of a public record or records, or information derived from public records, in

any form for sale, resale, or solicitation of advertisement for sales or services. For

purposes of this definition, requests made by news media and non-profit, scientific, or

academic organizations shall not be considered to be made for a “commercial purpose”

when the principal purpose of this request is (i) to access and disseminate information

concerning news and current or passing events, (ii) for articles of opinion or features if

interest to the publics, or (iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public research or

education. Section 3.1 states: “It is a violation of this Act for a person to 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 public body.”

Please check if a fee waiver or reduction is being requested. Section 6 of the

Freedom of Information Act states: “Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a

reduced charge, as determined by the public body, 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.”

Please indicate your reason for requesting a fee waiver:

____________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY:

_______________________________ ________________________________

Date Received Date Response Due

_______________________________ ________________________________

Date Request Completed Signature of FOIA Officer