IL. State Rep. Dwight Kay sues HFS for Public Records –

SPRINGFIELD, IL. (ECWd) –
When Governor Pat Quinn set out to hide public records, it created an extraordinary situation where State employees refused public records requests from State Representative Dwight Kay (R), 112th District, Glen Carbon, IL. He has filed a civil suit in Sangamon County under the Illinois Freedom Of Information Act.
Case number 2014-MR-244 names as Defendants, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and Julie Hamos in her official capacity as Director of HFS.  See our previous article on Director Hamos (HERE).
The suit alleges that Gov. Quinn’s office, through General Counsel Schomberg, informed Rep. Kay that any of his records requests as a State Representative would be denied and that he would have to request records through the Illinois Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) process.
Rep. Kay is seeking certain emails sent to and from Eppie Dietz, the HFS Bureau Chief of the Office of Information System and former Bureau Chief of the Office of Inspector General.  These emails were denied when submitted as a FOIA request.
The suit is seeking access to the requested records, payment of fees and costs associated with bringing the suit, and appropriate civil penalties.
Additionally, our expert ECWd opinion is that as a duly elected State Representative of the State of Illinois, he is entitled to full disclosure of public records, even if the emails were “preliminary draft, opinions, or formulary” in nature.
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