A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request can be made directly to the village. At this time, we are unaware of any specific form the village may provide for this request. However, the Freedom of Information Act does not require the use of a specific form to submit a FOIA request.
It is recommended to send the following information as a registered letter to the village hall:
- The Date of Your Request
- Your Name
- Your Address
- Your Phone Number
- Your Email Address
- Your Preferred Method of Contact
- The Property Identification Number (PIN) should your request be in regards to a specific property.
- Provide a detailed list of the information or documents you are requesting.
- Your Preferred Type of Document (print, PDF, etc.) Printed documents may require a fee.
For more information on the ordinances of the Village of New Milford regarding Freedom of Information Act Requests, please see ARTICLE III of the Village of New Milford Ordinances.
According to FOIA.gov, a “FOIA request can be made for any agency record. You can also specify the format in which you wish to receive the records (for example, printed or electronic form). The FOIA does not require agencies to create new records or to conduct research, analyze data, or answer questions when responding to requests.”
“Agencies typically process requests in the order of receipt. The time it takes to respond to a request will vary depending on the complexity of the request and any backlog of requests already pending at the agency. A simple request can be processed faster by the agency than one that is complex. Simple requests are typically more targeted and seek fewer pages of records. Complex requests typically seek a high volume of material or require additional steps to process, such as the need to search for records in multiple locations. The agency’s FOIA Requester Service Center is available to assist you with any questions about the status of your request or any steps you can take to receive a quicker response.”
At this time, it is recommended that FOIA requests be sent by registered mail to:
The Village of New Milford
ATTN: Village Clerk
6771 11th St
Rockford, IL 61109
CHAPTER 2. ADMINISTRATION
ARTICLE VII. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
Sec. 2-110. ADOPTION. The Village of New Milford hereby adopts in its entirety the Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140/1 et seq., as amended by Public Act 96-0542, effective January 1, 2010, and as amended from time to time, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Sec. 2-111. COPYING COSTS. The Village shall charge a fee to recover the costs associated with copying records; however, such costs shall not exceed those allowable under the Freedom of Information Act.
Sec. 2-112. OFFICER DESIGNATION. That the Village Clerk is hereby designated as the Freedom of Information Officer of the Village under and pursuant to Section 3.5 of the Freedom of Information Act.
Sec. 2-113. EXEMPTIONS. The Village hereby adopts the exemptions listed in the Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140/7 and 7.5 and herein lists the exemptions in their entirety:
(1) The following shall be exempt from inspection and copying:
(a) Information specifically prohibited from disclosure by federal or State law or rules and regulations adopted under federal or State law.
(b) Information that, if disclosed, would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy unless the disclosure is consented to in writing by the individual subjects of the information. The disclosure of information that bears on the public duties of public employees and officials shall not be considered an invasion of personal privacy.
Information exempted under this subsection (b) shall include but is not limited to:
(i) files and personal information maintained with respect to clients, patients, residents, students, or other individuals receiving social, medical, educational, vocational, financial, supervisory, or custodial care or services
directly or indirectly from federal agencies or public bodies;
(ii) personnel files and personal information maintained with respect to employees, appointees, or elected officials of any public body or applicants for those positions;
(iii) files and personal information maintained with respect to any applicant, registrant, or licensee by any public body cooperating with or engaged in professional or occupational registration, licensure, or discipline;
(iv) information required of any taxpayer in connection with the assessment or collection of any tax unless disclosure is otherwise required by State statute;
(v) information revealing the identity of persons who file complaints with or provide information to administrative, investigative, law enforcement, or penal agencies; provided, however, that identification of witnesses to traffic accidents, traffic accident reports, and rescue reports may be provided by agencies of local government, except in a case for which a criminal investigation is ongoing, without constituting a clearly unwarranted per se invasion of personal privacy under this subsection;
(vi) the names, addresses, or other personal information of participants and registrants in the park district, forest preserve district, and conservation district programs; and
(vii) the Notarial Record or other medium containing the thumbprint or fingerprint required by Section 3-102(c)(6) of the Illinois Notary Public Act.
(b-5) Files, documents, and other data or databases maintained by one or more law enforcement agencies and specifically designed to provide information to one or more law enforcement agencies regarding the physical or mental status of one or more individual subjects.
(c) Records compiled by any public body for administrative enforcement proceedings and any law enforcement or correctional agency for law enforcement purposes or for internal matters of a public body, but only to the extent that disclosure would:
(i) interfere with pending or actually and reasonably contemplated law enforcement proceedings conducted by any law enforcement or correctional agency;
(ii) interfere with pending administrative enforcement proceedings conducted by any public body;
(iii) deprive a person of a fair trial or an impartial hearing;
(iv) unavoidably disclose the identity of a confidential source or confidential information furnished only by the confidential source;
(v) disclose unique or specialized investigative techniques other than those generally used and known or disclose internal documents of correctional agencies related to detection, observation, or investigation of incidents of crime or misconduct;
(vi) constitute an invasion of personal privacy under subsection (b) of this Section;
(vii) endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel or any other person; or
(viii) obstruct an ongoing criminal investigation.
(d) Criminal history record information maintained by State or local criminal justice agencies, except the following, which shall be open for public inspection and copying:
(i) chronologically maintained arrest information, such as traditional arrest logs or blotters;
(ii) the name of a person in the custody of a law enforcement agency and the charges for which that person is being held;
(iii) court records that are public;
(iv) records that are otherwise available under State or local law; or
(v) records in which the requesting party is the individual identified, except as provided under part (vii) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this Section.
“Criminal history record information” means data identifiable to an individual and consisting of descriptions or notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, information, pre-trial proceedings, trials, or other formal events in the criminal justice system or descriptions or notations of criminal charges (including criminal violations of local municipal ordinances) and the nature of any disposition arising therefrom, including sentencing, court or correctional supervision, rehabilitation and release. The term does not apply to statistical records and reports in which individuals are not identified and from which their identities are not ascertainable or to information that is for criminal investigative or intelligence purposes.
(e) Records that relate to or affect the security of correctional institutions and detention facilities.
(f) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, memoranda, and other records in which opinions are expressed or policies or actions are formulated, except that a specific record or relevant portion of a record shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited and identified by the head of the public body. The exemption provided in this paragraph (f) extends to all those records of officers and agencies of the General Assembly that pertain to the preparation of legislative documents.
(g) Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person or business where the trade secrets or information are proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or where disclosure of the trade secrets or information may cause competitive harm, including:
(i) All information determined to be confidential under Section 4002 of the Technology Advancement and Development Act.
(ii) All trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained by a public body, including a public pension fund, from a private equity fund or a privately held company within the investment portfolio of a private equity fund as a result of either investing or evaluating a potential investment of public funds in a private equity fund. The exemption contained in this item does not apply to the aggregate financial performance information of a private equity fund nor to the identity of the fund’s managers or general partners. The exemption contained in this item does not apply to the identity of a privately held company within the investment portfolio of a private equity fund unless the disclosure of the identity of a privately held company may cause competitive harm.
Nothing contained in this paragraph (g) shall be construed to prevent a person or business from consenting to disclosure.
(h) Proposals and bids for any contract, grant, or agreement, including information that, if it were disclosed, would frustrate procurement or give an advantage to any person proposing to enter into a contract or agreement with the body until an award or final selection are made. Information prepared by or for the body in preparation of a bid solicitation shall be exempt until an award or final selection is made.
(i) Valuable formulae, computer geographic systems, designs, drawings, and research data obtained or produced by any public body when disclosure could reasonably be expected to produce private gain or public loss. The exemption for “computer geographic systems” provided in this paragraph (i) does not extend to requests made by news media as defined in Section 2 of this Act when the requested information is not otherwise exempt, and the only purpose of the request is to access and disseminate information regarding the health, safety, welfare, or legal rights of the general public.
(j) Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer an academic examination or determine the qualifications of an applicant for a license or employment.
(k) Architects’ plans, engineers’ technical submissions, and other construction-related technical documents for projects not constructed or developed in whole or in part with public funds and the same for projects constructed or developed with public funds, but only to the extent that disclosure would compromise security, including but not limited to water treatment facilities, airport facilities, sports stadiums, convention centers, and all government-owned, operated, or occupied buildings.
(l) Library circulation and order records identifying library users with specific materials.
(m) Minutes of meetings of public bodies are closed to the public as provided in the Open Meetings Act until the public body makes the minutes available to the public under Section 2.06 of the Open Meetings Act.
(n) Communications between a public body and an attorney or auditor representing the public body that would not be subject to discovery in litigation, and materials prepared or compiled by or for a public body in anticipation of a criminal, civil or administrative proceeding upon the request of an attorney advising the public body, and materials prepared or compiled with respect to internal audits of public bodies.
(o) Information received by a primary or secondary school, college, or university under its procedures for the evaluation of faculty members by their academic peers.
(p) Administrative or technical information associated with automated data processing operations, including but not limited to software, operating protocols, computer program abstracts, file layouts, source listings, object modules, load modules, user guides, documentation pertaining to all logical and physical design of computerized systems, employee manuals, and any other information that, if disclosed, would jeopardize the security of the system or its data or the security of materials exempt under this Section.
(q) Documents or materials relating to collective negotiating matters between public bodies and their employees or representatives, except that any final contract or agreement shall be subject to inspection and copying.
(r) Drafts, notes, recommendations, and memoranda pertaining to the financing and marketing transactions of the public body. The records of ownership, registration, transfer, and exchange of municipal debt obligations and of persons to whom payment with respect to these obligations are made.
(s) The records, documents, and information relating to real estate purchase negotiations until those negotiations have been completed or otherwise terminated. With regard to a parcel involved in a pending or actually and reasonably contemplated eminent domain proceeding under the Eminent Domain Act, records, documents, and information relating to that parcel shall be exempt except as may be allowed under discovery rules adopted by the Illinois Supreme Court. The records, documents, and information relating to a real estate sale shall be exempt until a sale is consummated.
(t) Any and all proprietary information and records related to the operation of an intergovernmental risk management association or self-insurance pool or jointly self-administered health and accident cooperative or pool.
(u) Information concerning a university’s adjudication of the student or employee grievance or disciplinary cases, to the extent that disclosure would reveal the identity of the student or employee, and information concerning any public body’s adjudication of student or employee grievances or disciplinary cases, except for the final outcome of the cases.
(v) Course materials or research materials used by faculty members.
(w) Information related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of a public body.
(x) Information contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of a public body responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions or insurance companies, unless disclosure is otherwise required by State law.
(y) Information, the disclosure of which is restricted under Section 5-108 of the Public Utilities Act.
(z) Manuals or instruction to staff that relate to establishment or collection of liability for any State tax or that relate to investigations by a public body to determine a violation of any criminal law.
(aa) Applications, related documents, and medical records received by the Experimental Organ Transplantation Procedures Board and any and all documents or other records prepared by the Experimental Organ Transplantation Procedures Board or its staff relating to applications it has received.
(bb) Insurance or self-insurance (including any intergovernmental risk management association or self-insurance pool) claims, loss, or risk management information, records, data, advice, or communications.
(cc) Information and records held by the Department of Public Health and its authorized representatives relating to known or suspected cases of sexually transmissible disease or any information the disclosure of which is restricted under the Illinois Sexually Transmissible Disease Control Act.
(dd) Information the disclosure of which is exempted under Section 30 of the Radon Industry Licensing Act.
(ee) Firm performance evaluations under Section 55 of the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying Qualifications Based Selection Act.
(ff) Security portions of system safety program plans, investigation reports, surveys, schedules, lists, data, or information compiled, collected, or prepared by or for the Regional Transportation Authority under Section 2.11 of the Regional Transportation Authority Act or the St. Clair County Transit District under the Bi-State Transit Safety Act.
(gg) Information the disclosure of which is restricted and exempted under Section 50 of the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Act.
(hh) Information the disclosure of which is exempted under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.
(ii) Beginning July 1, 1999, information that would disclose or might lead to the disclosure of secret or confidential information, codes, algorithms, programs, or private keys intended to be used to create electronic or digital signatures under the Electronic Commerce Security Act.
(jj) Information contained in a local emergency energy plan submitted to a municipality in accordance with a local emergency energy plan ordinance that is adopted under Section 11-21.5-5 of the Illinois Municipal Code.
(kk) Information and data concerning the distribution of surcharge money collected and remitted by wireless carriers under the Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety Act.
(ll) Vulnerability assessments, security measures, and response policies or plans that are designed to identify, prevent, or respond to potential attacks upon a community’s population or systems, facilities, or installations, the destruction or contamination of which would constitute a clear and present danger to the health or safety of the community, but only to the extent that disclosure could reasonably be expected to jeopardize the effectiveness of the measures or the safety of the personnel who implement them or the public. Information exempt under this item may include such things as details pertaining to the mobilization or deployment of personnel or equipment, the operation of communication systems or protocols, or tactical operations.
(mm) Maps and other records regarding the location or security of generation, transmission, distribution, storage, gathering, treatment, or switching facilities owned by a utility or by the Illinois Power Agency.
(nn) Law enforcement officer identification information or driver identification information compiled by a law enforcement agency or the Department of Transportation under Section 11-212 of Illinois
Vehicle Code.
(oo) Records and information are provided to a residential health care facility resident sexual assault and death review team or the Executive Council under the Abuse Prevention Review Team Act.
(pp) Information provided to the predatory lending database created pursuant to Article 3 of the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act, except to the extent authorized under that Article.
(qq) Defense budgets and petitions for certification of compensation and expenses for court-appointed trial counsel as provided under Sections 10 and 15 of the Capital Crimes Litigation Act. This subsection (qq) shall apply until the conclusion of the trial of the case, even if the prosecution chooses not to pursue the death penalty prior to trial or sentencing.
(rr) Information contained in or related to proposals, bids, or negotiations related to electric power procurement under Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act that is determined to be confidential and proprietary by the Illinois Power Agency or by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
(ss) Information that is prohibited from being disclosed under Section 4 of the Illinois Health and Hazardous Substances Registry Act.
(tt) Information about students is exempted from disclosure under Sections 10-20.38 or 34-18.29 of the School Code, and information about undergraduate students enrolled at an institution of higher education is exempted from disclosure under Section 25 of the Illinois Credit Card Marketing Act of 2009.
(2) This Section does not authorize the withholding of information or limit the availability of records to the public, except as stated in this Section or otherwise provided in this Act
(3) Statutory Exemptions. To the extent provided for by the statutes referenced below, the following shall be exempt from inspection and copying:
(a) All information determined to be confidential under Section 4002 of the Technology Advancement and Development Act.
(b) Library circulation and order records identifying library users with specific materials under the Library Records Confidentiality Act.
(c) Applications, related documents, and medical records received by the Experimental Organ Transplantation Procedures Board and any and all documents or other records prepared by the Experimental Organ Transplantation Procedures Board or its staff relating to applications it has received.
(d) Information and records held by the Department of Public Health and its authorized representatives relating to known or suspected cases of sexually transmissible disease or any information the disclosure of which is restricted under the Illinois Sexually Transmissible Disease Control Act.
(e) Information, the disclosure of which is exempted under Section 30 of the Radon Industry Licensing Act.
(f) Firm performance evaluations under Section 55 of the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying Qualifications Based Selection Act.
(g) Information, the disclosure of which is restricted and exempted under Section 50 of the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Act.
(h) Information the disclosure of which is exempted under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, and records of any lawfully created State or local inspector general’s office that would be exempt if created or obtained by an Executive Inspector General’s office under that Act.
(i) Information contained in a local emergency energy plan submitted to a municipality in accordance with a local emergency energy plan ordinance that is adopted under Section 11-21.5-5 of the Illinois Municipal Code.
(j) Information and data concerning the distribution of surcharge money collected and remitted by wireless carriers under the Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety Act.
(k) Law enforcement officer identification information or driver identification information compiled by a law enforcement agency or the Department of Transportation under Section 11-212 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.
(l) Records and information provided to a residential health care facility resident sexual assault and death review team or the Executive Council under the Abuse Prevention Review Team Act.
(m) Information provided to the predatory lending database created pursuant to Article 3 of the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act, except to the extent authorized under that Article.
(n) Defense budgets and petitions for certification of compensation and expenses for court-appointed trial counsel as provided under Sections 10 and 15 of the Capital Crimes Litigation Act. This subsection (n) shall apply until the conclusion of the trial of the case, even if the prosecution chooses not to pursue the death penalty prior to trial or sentencing.
(o) Information that is prohibited from being disclosed under Section 4 of the Illinois Health and Hazardous Substances Registry Act.
(p) Security portions of system safety program plans, investigation reports, surveys, schedules, lists, data, or information compiled, collected, or prepared by or for the Regional Transportation Authority under Section 2.11 of the Regional Transportation Authority Act or the St. Clair County Transit District under the Bi-State Transit Safety Act.
(q) Information prohibited from being disclosed by the Personnel Records Review Act.
(r) Information prohibited from being disclosed by the Illinois School Student Records Act.
(s) Information, the disclosure of which is restricted under Section 5-108 of the Public Utilities Act.
REFERENCES
“FOIA.Gov – Freedom of Information Act: How to Make a FOIA Request.” Freedom of Information Act, www.foia.gov/how-to.html. Accessed 19 May 2021.
Village of New Milford. “CODE OF ORDINANCES VILLAGE OF NEW MILFORD.” The Village of New Milford, Sept. 2021, villageofnewmilford.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/New-Milford-Code-of-Ordinances-September-2021.pdf.
