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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESOLUTION - 80-84 - 11/13/1984 - FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT RESOLUTION NO. 80-84 A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE POLICY OF THE VILLAGE OF ELK GROVE VILLAGE WITH RESPECT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT WHEREAS, it is the policy of the Village of Elk Grove Village that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of the Village of Elk Grove Village and the official acts and policies of Village officials and public employees , consistent with applicable provisions of law; and WHEREAS, the Village of Elk Grove Village recognizes that access to information is necessary and desirable to enable citizens to fulfill their obligations in discussing public issues fully and freely and making informed judgments; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Elk Grove Village, Cook and DuPage Counties , Illinois as follows: Section 1: That the purpose of this Resolution is to fully comply with the provisions of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, Public Act #83-1013. Section 2: The definitions contained in said Illinois Freedom of Information Act are hereby adopted for the purpose of this Resolution. Section 3 : There is hereby established Rules and Regulations in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, a copy of which are attached hereto and by this reference incorporated herein. - 2 - Section 4 : That this Resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval pursuant to law. VOTES: AYES: 6 NAYS : 0 ABSENT: 0 APPROVED: Charles J. Zettek Village President ATTEST: Patricia S. Smith Village Clerk PASSED this 13th day of November 1984 . APPROVED this 13th day of November , 1984 . - 3 - TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction . . . . . . • • • • • • . • • • . • • • . 1 Freedom of Information Act Resolution # 2 Rules and Regulations • • . • . • . . . . . . . . . . .4 Administrative Procedures • • • • • • • • . • • • . . . 6 Compliance Forms Village of Elk Grove Village Description and Organizational Chart Catalogue of Existing Files INTRODUCTION On July 1, 1984 Public Act 83-1013, the Freedom of Information Act, goes into effect. Its purpose is to ensure to all people of the State of Illinois "full and complete information regarding the affairs of government. " In accordance with this Act the Village of Elk Grove Village has compiled the following "Freedom of Information Act Information Manual to describe and include its rules and regulations, administra- tive procedures, catalogue of existing files and description of the Village as a government body. VILLAGE OF ELK GROVE VILLAGE RULES AND REGULATIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1. The following rules and regulations are effective July 1, 1984 . 2 . Information may be requested at the Village Hall , 901 Wellington Avenue from 8 :30 a.m. to 5: 00 p.m. Monday through Friday. 3. An organizational chart of the Village structure, brief description of how to obtain records , and a catalogue of existing files will be available at the above location. Copies are available upon written request and payment of the appropriate fee. 4 . Questions regarding access will be directed to the appropriate department head responsible for the subject file. 5 . The Village of Elk Grove Village hereby establishes the following costs for reproduction: a) paper copies - $ . 25 per page. b) microfilm copies - $ . 50 per page . c) computer page - $ . 50 per page. d) Certification of documents - $ . 50 per document. e) Documents requiring mailing by the Village - $1. 00 for the first page and applicable charges as established by paragraphs a) through d) above for each page thereafter plus postage costs . f) police, fire and ambulance incident reports - $1. 00 per page including postage. Requests to waive the fee must be made in writing to the Village Manager and must state how information requested "primarily benefits the general public" (Sec. 6 (b) FOIA) . Requests for records which has an anticipated cost in excess of Ten ($10 . 00) Dollars will require a deposit in such amount as is deemed appropriate by the Village Clerk. Any portion of the deposit over and above the actual cost of reproduction shall be returned to the requestor. The above cost shall not apply to pamphlets , brochures or other pre-printed materials which departments may sell such as zoning or special use maps . Also, departments may give out materials at no charge if they have extra copies or when no copying is necessary. 6. In determining time periods as provided for in the Freedom of Information Act, day of request will not be included. 7. Each Department Head in addition to the Village Clerk, is authorized to issue notices of extension of time and notices of denial. 4 - 8. The Village Manager is hereby defined as "head of the public body" and shall rule on appeals . 9. "Commercial Enterprise" as used in the Freedom of Information Act shall include both profit and not for profit ventures. 10 . If the Village Manager reasonably believes the records requested might be for the purpose of furthering a commercial enterprise, then the requesting party must supply additional information to disprove this claim. - 5 - ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES 1. Requestor must fill out a "Freedom of Information Act Request Form" at the front desk at the Village Hall, 901 Wellington Avenue. The Village Clerk or her designated agent shall date stamp the request and indicate date by which request must be approved or denied (seven (7) working days after and excluding the day of request) in accordance with the provisions of the "Act" . 2. The Village Clerk or her designated agent shall cause the request to be directed to a designated employee of the department or departments responsible for the information requested. 3. The effected departments shall pull the file or files requested and may allow for the inspection of said documents by the requestor. Should the requestor want copies of all or a portion of tile information, they should indicate to the employee what copies they would like, and the employee will make the necessary copies. The requestor shall pay the appropriate fees for such copies at the front desk of the Village Hall and receive a receipt for same. Each copy may be certified if requested and paid for by the requestor. Documents may be furnished without charge if the requestor is unable to pay for them, and it is determined to be in the public interest by the Village Manager. After the requestor has viewed the information and made desired copies , the employee should indicate on the form how many copies were made, the time spent and the form to the Village Clerk. 4 . If, at the time the requestor comes to the department, the employee is not in or is not able to comply with the request, the requestor should leave the request form with the front desk and arrange another time to return. On their return, the procedures in Item 4 shall be followed. 5. If, upon review of the request, the employee feels they cannot compile all of the necessary information right away, they may arrange another time within seven (7) days for the requestor to return at which time all of the information will be compiled. 6. If after five (5) days the employee determines that they do not have adequate time to gather the desired information, the time limit may be extended seven (7) days . It is strongly recommended that extensions only be made in extenuating circumstances. Valid reasons for extension are: 1. The requested record is in a place other than the office in charge of the record. 2. The request requires an extensive search. 6 - 3 . The records have not been found in time and additional efforts are necessary to retrieve them. 4 . The record requires examination to determine if it should be exempt from viewing. 5. Compliance with the request would cause undue burden or interfere with the operations of the public body. (repeated requests for the. -same information by the same person shall be deemed unduly burdensome under this provision) . If it is necessary to extend the time limit, the requestor must. be notified by mail within seven (7) days of the request and the letter must give the reason for the extension. Failure to respond to the request within seven (7) days is considered a denial of the request. 7. The employee may not give out information which has been determined to be exempt from disclosure by the Freedom of Information Act because it falls in one of the following exempted categories: 1. Disclosure is prohibited by Federal or State law. 2 . Disclosure would constitute an invasion of personal privacy. 3. The documents requested are investigatory records involved in the internal affairs of the subject department and/or Village. 4 . The documents requested are preliminary drafts , notes , memoranda or records. 5. Tile documents requested would disclose trade secret, proprietary, privileged or confidential information. 6. The documents constitute proposals or bids for a contract, grant or agreement. 7. The documents are valuable formulae, designs, drawings or research data. 8. The documents are architects and/or engineers plans for building. 9 . The documents are not subject to reproduction pursuant to the Open Meetings Act. 10. The documents constitute or reflect communications with the Village attorney or auditor, or were prepared upon the request of the attorney or with respect to an internal audit. - 7 - 11. Disclosure would jeopardize the security of a data processing system or the data contained therein. 12. The documents requested relate to pending negotiations for the purchase of real estate. 13. The documents requested concern an employee grievance or disciplinary matter (the final outcome may be disclosed) . 14 . The documents requested are proprietary information related to the operation of an intergovernmental risk management association, self insurance pool, or jointly self adminstered health and accident cooperative or pool. 8 . If requested information cannot be released due to exemption, or if request is unduly burdensome or if the office has no such record, the employee must complete a "Denial of Records Form" and mail same to requestor along with a blank "Notice of Appeal" . A copy of denial letter and the completed request form must be sent to the Village Clerk. Copies of all notices of denial will be retained by the Village Clerk in a central file that is publicly accessible and indexed by type of exemption. 9. If a request is denied, the requestor has fourteen (14) working days to return the "Notice of "Appeal' to the Village Manager. Upon receipt of appeal, the Village Manager will review the material in question and determine whether or not information should be accessible. The Village Manager must then complete a "Decision on Appeal Form" and return it to the requestor within seven (7) working days after receiving the notice of appeal. If the Village Manager reverses the decision, the requestor must arrange a time to view information as previously discussed. If the Village Manager upholds decision to deny records, the requestor has exhausted his administrative remedies. 10. Any person denied access by the Village Manager may file suit with the circuit court for injunctive or declaratory relief. 8 -