(Correction to modified opinion 8/1/16.) Plaintiff requested data from Defendant Community College pursuant to FOIA, seeking "raw inputs" for fields on College's student registration forms, and zip codes of students in certain classes and total numbers of students in certain classes. College responded that it did not have documents responsive to requests. Nine of Plaintiff's 13 requests were for public records under FOIA. The data in College's computer databases are "public records" under FOIA, so long as data pertain to "transaction of public business" and were prepared by or for, or were used by, received by, in possession or under control of any public body. FOIA comprehends that records will be stored and reproduced electronically. Court properly dismissed 6 requests which sought total numbers of students, because those requests would require that College create new records.(HUTCHINSON and ZENOFF, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
FOIA