In the wake of a flurry of cookie-cutter mass FOIA lawsuits filed in DuPage County and throughout Illinois against various school districts and other public bodies, Hodges Loizzi is working pro bono with our colleagues at Robbins Schwartz and Franczek on legislative proposals to combat abusive mass FOIA requests. These bills are designed to protect school districts’ and other public bodies’ precious time and resources from wasteful mass FOIA requests and FOIA lawsuits. Representative Dan Didech from Buffalo Grove has introduced and is sponsoring legislative proposals HB 4681, HB 4682, HB 4683, and HB 4684, which, if enacted, would provide more lenient procedures for responding to mass FOIA requests and no longer provide mandatory attorneys’ fees for mass FOIA requesters who file lawsuits in court, among other things. Please contact your legislators to encourage them to support and sponsor these bills.
We are pleased to serve the school community by helping to draft these bills. For more information, contact Steve Richart at 847-670-9000 or [email protected] about these bills and assistance in dealing with mass FOIA requests.
