Plaintiff filed a lawsuit alleging that the defendant violated the Freedom of information Act when it sought payment for the cost of copying a hard drive and obtaining a storage device in response to a FOIA request submitted by plaintiff. The trial court entered an order requiring the defendant to provide the plaintiffs with all documents stored on the computer that was subject to the request but noting that the lawsuit could have been avoided if the plaintiffs had made a reasonable attempt to clarify their request before filing suit. The trial court also denied plaintiffs’ request for fees, costs, and civil penalties. Plaintiffs appealed the order denying their motion for fees, costs, and civil penalties. The appellate court affirmed, finding, first, that the denial of attorneys fees and costs was consistent with the purposes of the FOIA’s fee-shifting provision because litigation was not necessary to ensure compliance and, second, that the defendant’s attempt to pass the costs of copying the hard drive on to the plaintiffs was not made in bad faith and, as a result, the trial court properly denied plaintiffs’ request for civil penalties. (DAVENPORT and McDADE, concurring)
Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
FOIA