FOIA Information
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides the public with the right to access government documents and records. The law provides that an individual may ask a public body for a copy of its records on a specific subject and that the public body must provide those records, unless there is an exemption in the statute that protects those records from disclosure, such as when the record contains an individual’s private information.
FOIA requests need to be submitted to the Lemont Township Clerk at clerk@lemonttownship.org
Please be sure to include your name, address, email address, and telephone number so you can be contacted for clarifications. Please include a clear description of the records you are requesting.
To view the Illinois Freedom of Information Act in full, click here:
The Township will respond to any FOIA Request properly submitted within five working days after the Request is received by the Township. All responses and decisions required to be issued by the Township pursuant to the Act or will be conclusively deemed to have been given as of the date of personal delivery to the Requestor or to the residence of the Requestor entitled to a response or decision or, if mailed, as of the date of mailing, regardless of the date of actual receipt by the Requestor.
The Township shall respond to a request for records to be used for a commercial purpose within 21 working days after receipt. In accordance with Section 3.1(a) of the Act, the response shall (i) provide the Requestor an estimate of the time required by the Township to provide the records requested and an estimate of the fees to be charged, which the Township may require the Requestor to pay in full before copying the requested documents, (ii) deny the request pursuant to a lawful exemption; (iii) notify the Requestor that the request is unduly burdensome and extend an opportunity to the Requestor to attempt to reduce the Request to manageable proportions, or (iv) provide the records requested. Unless the records are exempt from disclosure, the Township shall comply with a request within a reasonable period of time considering the size and complexity of the request, giving priority to records requested for non-commercial purposes. It is a violation of the Act for a person to knowingly obtain public records for a commercial purpose without disclosing it is for a commercial purpose.
There will be no charge for the first 50 pages of letter or legal size black and white copies for a Requester, except for Requests for commercial purposes. When the services of an outside vendor are required to copy a public record, the actual reasonable charges of the outside vendor will be the fees for copying such records.
Any request for fee waiver or reduction must be indicated on the Request Form at the time the Request Form is filed. A fee waiver or reduction will be considered to be in the public interest only if the principal purpose of the request is to disseminate information regarding the public health, safety, and welfare or the legal rights of the general public and is not for the principal purpose of personal or commercial benefit to the Requestor. The FOIA Officer may consider the number of requested public records and the cost and necessity of copying them in setting the fee waiver or reduction amount.
Unless fees are waived or reduced each Requester must pay the following fees for copying, certification, and mailing of public records, which the Township has determined to be reasonably calculated to reimburse its actual cost for reproducing and certifying public records and for the use, by any person, of the equipment of the Township to copy records:
Copies – letter or legal – $0.15 per side
Copies – color or oversize Actual cost of reproduction
Certification – $1.00 per document plus copy cost
Mailing – Actual cost of postage
Statutory Fees – Fees otherwise fixed by statute will be imposed at the rates authorized by the statute.
Payment of all required fees must be made in cash, by cashier’s or certified check, or by money order prior to the examination, copying, or certification prior to the release of any public record.
