Illinois Supreme Court Upholds Lack of Transparency, Says FOID Denials Not Subject to Freedom of Information Act Requests

Illinois law permits citizens to request public records through the Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140/1 et seq. However, this law, also known as “FOIA,” has its limits. Most commonly, this statute is used to obtain public records, such as information about police calls, arrests, minutes from town meetings, and just about any other type of publicly available records of any Illinois agency or department. That said, the law also exempts certain things, in particular, information that would be considered private and protected. This includes social security numbers, names of private citizens, phone numbers of private citizens, and so forth. Another law that is commonly used to obtain records pertaining to local municipal meetings, such as town hall meetings or city council meetings, is the Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120/1 et seq. For many people in our state, the process of appealing the denial of their Second Amendment rights can be a frustrating and confusing process, often marked by a lack of transparency and questionable policies. If you’ve lost your FOID card, you need an experienced Gun Lawyer to help you fight for your 2A rights. After all, you certainly can’t rely on your government to help.

Supreme Court Holds ISP FOID Records Not Subject to FOIA Requests Even if Seeking One’s Own Records

In a unanimous 7-0 decision by the Illinois Supreme Court, the Court held that individuals may not obtain copies of their own applications or appeals materials from the Illinois State Police using a FOIA requests. The Court specifically overturned the 5th District Appellate Court’s ruling on the matter. The case, Hart v. Illinois State Police, 2023 IL 128275, involved two FOID applicants who were denied a FOID card, and in order to effectuate their appeals and determine the grounds for denial, they each submitted FOIA requests to the State Police. Both were denied. The intermediate court, located in southern Illinois, held that the relevant exception under FOIA did not apply to individuals seeking their own records but, rather, it applied to individuals requesting records of others. The entire case came down to a strained interpretation of the word “People.”

The language at issue in that case is found in Section 7.5(v) of the FOIA statute, which exempts the following as not subject to disclosure:

“Names and information of people who have applied for or received Firearm Owner’s Identification Cards under the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act or applied for or received a concealed carry license under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, unless otherwise authorized by the Firearm Concealed Carry Act; and databases under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, records of the Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board under the Fire Concealed Carry Act, and law enforcement agency objections under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act.”

Understanding FOIA Requests in Context

A request to a government agency, made pursuant to the FOIA statute, must be met with compliance. State governmental agencies must turn over the requested information within 5 days, unless certain exceptions apply. In fact, even the Supreme Court in Hart held that “

Interpretation is Everything and Nothing at All

The plaintiffs, circuit court, and 5th District Appellate Court all agreed that this provision, as written, must mean that people simply cannot use FOIA to request private information about FOID Card Applicants. In fact, the Supreme Court acknowledged the following 3 truths about FOIA:

• Public records are presumed to be open and accessible under Illinois law.
• A public body must comply with a proper request for information unless one of the statutory exemptions in section 7 applies.
• The public body claiming the exemption must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the requested information is exempt.

Despite the Court’s acknowledgement of the above truths, it went on to say that the exemption stated above applies equally to people seeking records of others, as well as people seeking their own records. The entire decision hinged on whether the General Assembly intended to exempt ALL records from ALL people, including folks who want to see their own records, or whether it simply exempted the public from obtaining private information about FOID Card applicants. In a clear attempt to further frustrate the ends of justice, our Supreme Court has yet again found a way to hide the ball and drape a large cloak of darkness over the firearms issue in Illinois.

The Freedom of Information Act should be read in its entirety to understand it’s exceptions. For instance, Section 7 states that when requested information includes both exempt and non-exempt information, the agency should redact the documents as necessary. So, as a preliminary matter, we here at My Gun Lawyer question why the Court would find that ALL information is exempt. Further, “names and information of people who have applied for FOID cards” strongly suggests that the legislative intent was to protect the privacy of FOID Card holders – or at least this would be the only reasonable justification for the exemption. Many statutes exist to protect the privacy of citizens. Consider HIPAA and various other healthcare confidentiality laws. Yet, for reasons that are likely clear to anyone paying attention, our high Court feels that individuals should not even be allowed to access their own records. This raises one remaining question: Who is Illinois protecting? It certainly isn’t the “people.”

Why Transparency Matters

Transparency matters, because if individuals are not permitted to access their own records, many things can be done in secret. Now, it is worth noting that the Supreme Court finished its analysis by stating that individuals may obtain copies of their applications and revocation letters by contacting the State Police Firearms Services Bureau. But in practice, we find this less than comforting. Our office has seen numerous cases of individuals being revoked or denied because ISP had bad information, wrong birthdates, or even incorrect information entirely. In once notable case our office handled, the mental health hospitalization that served as a ground for denial occurred 3 years prior to our client’s date of birth. Nevertheless, ISP refused to provide any information, even telling our client that it was his burden to disprove the allegation. In another similar case, ISP revoked a FOID card due to a mental health issue but refused to tell the client when or even where this allegedly happened. Therefore, he was left in the position of trying to prove a negative. In short, Illinois has created a scheme by which citizens can lose their Second Amendment rights with no due process, and even when they attempt to appeal, they may not be given any access to their own records to even ascertain how and why the State Police erred.

At My Gun Lawyer, we remain 100% committed to seeing the Illinois FOID law overturned or repealed in its entirety. If you need help fighting to reinstate your FOID Card, give us a call at (833) FOID-LAW or take the quiz to find out what type of appeal is best for you.