Section 1126.210  Types of Department Responses

a)         The Department shall respond to a request for public records in one of 5 ways:

1)         Approve the request.

2)         Approve the request in part and deny the request in part.

3)         In the case of a request that places an "undue burden" on the Department, give the requestor the opportunity to scale the request down to the extent that the request no longer constitutes an undue burden.

4)         Deny the request.

5)         Refer the request to a different agency.

b)         Upon approval of a request for public records, the Department may either provide the materials immediately, give notice that the materials shall be made available upon payment of reproduction costs, or give notice of the time and place for inspection of records.

c)         A denial of a request for public records shall be made in writing.  It shall state the reasons for the denial under either Section 3(f) or Section 7 of the FOIA and the names and titles of individuals responsible for the decision.  It shall also give notice of the requestor's right to appeal to the Director of the Department.

d)         Categorical requests creating an undue burden upon the Department shall be denied only after extending to the requestor an opportunity to narrow the request to manageable proportions under Section 3(f) of the FOIA.

e)         Failure by the Department to respond to a written request within 7 working days shall be considered by the Requestor to be a denial of the request unless the Requestor is otherwise notified.  The denial may be appealed to the Director according to Section 1126.300.

(Source:  Amended at 23 Ill. Reg. 14741, effective January 1, 2000)