Illinois man to hold vigil for open government

From WJBC.com:

GALENA – A Galena man is waging a campaign to see the federal government’s business conducted in public.

Bill Fawell, 58, a real estate developer with politicians in his family, is author of New American Revolution: The Constitutional Overthrow of the United States Government. He’s urging registered voters to “light a candle for liberty” Monday from 7-8 p.m.

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Study still shows massive Illinois FOIA noncompliance

From Northwest Herald:

It took Ed Mrkvicka Jr. a year under the improved Illinois Freedom of Information Act to get a two-page state disciplinary report about a real estate agent. The Marengo resident and his daughter filed two FOIA requests with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Not only did the agency ignore the request, but it also had ignored the Illinois Attorney General Public Access Counselor’s order to submit the documents for review.

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FOIA requester sues Caseyville seeking fees, costs and civil penalties

From Madison Record:

Belleville resident Bradley Van Hoose is suing the Village of Caseyville for attorney fees and costs associated with his fight to access copies of board meeting minutes, hotel meeting minutes, contracts, invoices and records related to the village's hotel fund.

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Requests for public records surge in Lake Forest

From Lake Forester:

The Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has made it possible for anyone to request records of all public entities such as municipalities, schools and park districts to bolster government transparency. How much time and money local entities spend on fulfilling FOIA requests, in some cases, has grown dramatically.

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Illinois Central School District spends $400 in FOIA fight with newspaper

From BND.com:

Central School District spent a little over $400 in a failed attempt to refuse a Freedom of Information Act request asking to review the district’s legal invoices.

The district paid its attorney Garrett Hoerner $402.50 for legal services related to the rejection of the FOIA request and later defense of the rejection during an investigation from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

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Newspaper wins appeal for 2002 police report

From ForestLeaves:

Hillside Police Department must turn over a 2002 police report describing the arrest of Emanuel “Chris” Welch for domestic battery, the Illinois attorney general ordered Friday.

Forest Leaves has been seeking the report since January, but Hillside police refused a Freedom of Information Act request, saying there was no arrest and that the matter was private.

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