Freedom of Information

All Illinois municipalities – including the Village of Seneca – fall under the provisions of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

How do I Receive Copies of or View Records?

Submit a written or email request specifying which records you wish to view and/or receive copies and submit it to the appropriate Freedom of Information Officer listed below.  The FOIA request form is available here:  FOIA Request Form

Telephone and/or oral requests will not be accepted.

Online Records

The passage of Public Act 98-1129 provides that a public body is not required to furnish copies of records which are maintained on the public body’s website.  In the event that a person is unable to reasonably access the record, they should resubmit their FOIA request, and advise the public body why they were not able to access said records.  Then the public body shall provide the requested record in accordance with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

When Will I Receive My Records?

The Village will provide a response to non-commercial FOIA requests within five business days, unless a mutually-agreed upon date is established.  Certain records or portions of records are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.  If the records are exempt, the requestor will be provided with the specific provision(s) in the Freedom of Information Act which makes them exempt.  The specific exemptions may be reviewed at:   http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=85&ChapterID=2

Questions regarding the Freedom of Information Act may be addressed to one of the Freedom of Information Officers or by emailing clerk1@mailseneca.org.

Village of Seneca FOIA Officers

Direct general requests for Village records to Jennifer Peddicord, Village Clerk, at clerk1@mailseneca.org.

Direct Police Department records requests to Michelle Harrison, Police Secretary, at PDsecretary@mailseneca.org.

Fees for Records

Copies of records will be provided in the format specified by the requestor, if feasible.

Charges for copies of records will be imposed in accordance with the following:

• The first 50 black and white, letter size pages and/or legal size pages will be copied and provided free of charge.
• All letter size and/or legal size black and white copies exceeding the first 50 copies will be provided at a cost of 15 cents per page.
• All color copies, oversized copies, plats, maps, discs, diskettes, tapes, CDs or DVDs will be provided at the Village’s actual cost for reproducing the record.
• Fees applicable to copies furnished in a paper format shall not be applicable to those records when furnished in an electronic format, except in the case of a voluminous request. For a voluminous request where records are to be provided in an electronic record format (but not PDF), $20 up to 2MB, $40 up to 4MB, and $100 over 4MB; if the records are in PDF format, $20 up to 80MB; $40 up to 160MB; and $100 for more than 160MB of data.  If the responsive electronic records are in both a portable document format and not in a portable document format, the public body may separate the fees and charge the requester under both fee scale.
• For an additional charge documents may be certified. Certified documents have a signed and sealed letter from the Village Clerk stating that the attached documents are true and correct copies of the original documents on file with the Village of Seneca. The Clerk’s Office advises those needing public records for legal proceedings to have their documents certified.
• Per the Illinois Vehicle Code, 625 ILCS 5/11-416, there is a fee of $5 for copies of traffic crash reports.