Country Club Hills, Ill. (ECWd) –
Country Club Hills School District 160 has developed a habit of failing to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), as evidenced by a recent Attorney General determination and their continued refusal to comply.
Our attorneys are currently reviewing a FOIA request we sent over a month ago that went unanswered by the district, and we will most likely file a lawsuit to obtain the requested financial records.
There is at least a dozen other FOIA requests to this district from others that have gone unanswered, and it is unacceptable.
In its determination issued on February 19, 2026, the AG’s Public Access Counselor (“PAC”) determined that the district failed to conduct an adequate search for the requested records and requested “that the District provide Ms. Williams with a supplemental response detailing its efforts to search for the records she requested and provide her with any additional records that are located, subject to permissible redactions of discrete information, if any, that is exempt from disclosure...”
After being tipped about a school board member simply “purchasing” a district-owned Ford F-150 pickup truck for $500, Ms. Williams requested the following records:
“copies of “records concerning any school district-owned vehicles that have been sold, auctioned, or otherwise disposed of” between January 1, 2023, and May 3, 2025, including records describing the vehicles, the sale price, the purchase agreements, and vehicle transfer documents.1 The request also sought any board meeting minutes and agendas discussing “the sale or transfer of district-owned vehicles” or that reflected the “intent for any employee and/or board member to purchase and recuse themselves from any related votes or discussions“
The district only had a copy of the title and claimed they had no other records.
The AG’s PAC determined the district did not conduct an adequate search for any additional responsive records to this FOIA request.
Country Club Hills School District 160 - 86894-f-3a-search-improper-sd (1)
