FOIA Request Info
In 1984, the Illinois General Assembly enacted the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. The Act states that "all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts and policies of those who represent them as public officials and public employees..."
Please submit your FOIA request to Marcia Pollowy, Village Clerk.
Village of Harwood Heights
Marcia Pollowy, Village Clerk
7300 W. Wilson
Harwood Heights, IL 60706
Fax: 708-867-3038
Email: [email protected]
Records Maintained by the Village of Harwood Heights
Available Documents
Some examples of the records available under the Act are: policy statements; ordinances; reports or studies; public contracts; the names, titles and salaries of public employees; and the voting records of all public bodies.
Cost
The Act allows public bodies to charge reasonable fees to pay for copying costs. Public bodies may waive the fees if disclosure is in the public interest.
How to Obtain this Information
You can request to view or obtain copies of public records by seeing the Village Clerk at the Harwood Heights Village Hall, 7300 W. Wilson Avenue, Harwood Heights, Illinois 60706. Certain Police Department records can be obtained through this Act at the Police Department. (A FOIA request form is available above.)
Public Body Response
A public body has five (5) working days to respond after it received a written request for information under the Act. A public body may inform you in writing that it requires an additional five (5) days to respond to a request for several reasons. The public body is required to disclose all records responsive to your request unless it can properly invoke an exemption provided in the Act. It is their responsibility to show the records are entitled to be exempt from disclosure.
Denial
A denial must be in writing and must include the names and titles of everyone responsible for the denial. It must also give the reasons for denial and include notice of your right to appeal the denial.
Appeal
If you are denied access to information, you may appeal to the head of the public body. A letter to the head of the public body will start the process. Within five (5) working days, the head of the public body must review the requested record, determine whether denial is proper under the Act, and notify you of the determination. If the head of the public body also denies you access, you may go to court for access to the records.
To read the Freedom of Information Act, please click here.
FOIA Government Transparency Information
(5 ILCS 140/4) (from Ch. 116, par. 204)
Sec. 4. Each public body shall prominently display at each of its administrative or regional offices, make available for inspection and copying, and send through the mail if requested, each of the following:
• (a) A brief description of itself, which will include, but not be limited to, a short summary of its purpose, a block diagram giving its functional subdivisions, the total amount of its operating budget, the number and location of all of its separate offices, the approximate number of full and part-time employees, and the identification and membership of any board, commission, committee, or council which operates in an advisory capacity relative to the operation of the public body, or which exercises control over its policies or procedures, or to which the public body is required to report and be answerable for its operations; and
• (b) A brief description of the methods whereby the public may request information and public records, a directory designating the Freedom of Information officer or officers, the address where requests for public records should be directed, and any fees allowable under Section 6 of this Act.
A public body that maintains a website shall also post this information on its website. Click here to see the FOIA Government Transparency information for the Village of Harwood Heights.