SPRINGFIELD, IL. (ECWd) –
There are several instances where the inaction of the Attorney General’s office leads to the public being improperly denied public records. This is simply another case we decided to highlight today – more are coming:
Last summer Cook County decided it could violate the law and deny access to public records. I filed a request for review with the Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor, and it was assigned file number 2014 PAC 30503.
This deals with Statements of Economic Interest, their online access, and their access thru FOIA.
The request for review was first filed in August of 2014 and the last response to the PAC was in August of 2014.
No further response from the AG’s PAC, no determination, no emails, no answers to requests for an update, nothing.
So here we are, more than 9 months after requesting records, more than 8 months after asking the AG for an opinion, and still no answer. How can this even remotely be considered “Freedom of Information”?
Thru the AG’s inactions, she has effectively rendered the Freedom of Information Act as useless – which is why the court systems are starting to have to deal with this issue more often, creating a financial hardship for the requester and for the public body – because the AG refuses to be responsive.
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