Illinois Freedom of Information Act
The Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140/1 et seq., is an Illinois statute that grants to all persons the right to copy and inspect public records in the state. The law applies to executive and legislative bodies of state government, units of local government, and other entities defined as "public bodies". All records related to governmental business are presumed to be open for inspection by the public, except for information specifically exempted from disclosure by law. The statute is modeled after the federal Freedom of Information Act and serves a similar purpose as freedom of information legislation in the other U.S. states.
Records of the board of trustees of Illinois Industrial University and its successor, the University of Illinois
Susan Catania introduced initial FOIA legislation in 1974.
Barbara Flynn Currie sponsored the FOIA legislation that would eventually be enacted.
Governor James R. Thompson issued an amendatory veto, and later signed FOIA into law.
Illinois Public Access Counselor
The Illinois Public Access Counselor (PAC) is an attorney in the office of the Illinois Attorney General who is responsible for enforcing the state's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Open Meetings Act (OMA). The PAC is the head of the Public Access Bureau, a group of more than one dozen attorneys who process complaints against public bodies and provide education to the public on Illinois' transparency laws.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan created the Public Access Counselor position in 2004.