Section 775.80  Time Period for Disclosure of Information

a)         The Department shall promptly provide, to any person who submits a written request to the Freedom of Information Officer, a copy of information requested (subject to any fees; see Section 775.110) within 7 working days after receipt of the request, or deny the request as described in Section 775.90.  Failure to respond within the 7-day limit shall constitute denial of the request.  An extension of 7 additional working days may be secured, if written notification is sent to the person requesting the information, for any of the following reasons:

1)         The information requested is located at one or more places other than the office having charge of the requested records;

2)         The amount of materials requested, or the scope of the materials, is so large that an inordinate amount of time is required to collect them;

3)         Because of the age of the materials requested, or for other good reason, initial efforts to locate them have not been successful;

4)         The materials requested need to be examined by appropriate staff to determine if they are exempt by law from disclosure in whole or in part;

5)         Compliance with the request within 7 working days would place an undue burden on the operations of the office receiving the request, whether due to the nature of the request or to the total volume of pending requests in the office at the time;

6)         Another public body or persons outside the Department have a substantial interest in the materials requested and need to be consulted before the Department can respond to the request.

b)         Written notification of the need for an additional 7 working days shall be sent to the person making the written request within the first 7 days after receipt of the request, and will include the reasons for the extension of time.  Failure to respond to the request, either within the first 7-day period or the second, if notice of need for an extension of time has been duly tendered, shall constitute a denial of the request.

(Source:  Amended at 8 Ill. Reg. 17275, effective September 21, 1984)