Section 1326.520  Copies of Public Records

a)         Copies of public records shall be provided to the requestor only upon payment of any charges which are due.  Charges shall be calculated at the rate of 50¢ per page copied.

b)         Charges for copies of public records shall be assessed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, except where a fee is otherwise specified by another statute.

c)         In order to protect the requestor and the Department from large unexpected fees, when it is anticipated that the charges will amount to more than $20, the requestor shall be informed, in writing, and the processing of the request shall be suspended until the requestor confirms his request, including an acknowledgement of his obligation to pay the costs of his request.  At his option, the requestor may indicate at the time of his initial request a dollar limitation to the cost he is willing to incur.  In such an event, the Freedom of Information Officer shall discontinue processing as soon as the stipulated amount has been reached; alternatively, where no documents can be processed for the stipulated amount, the Freedom of Information Officer shall promptly so inform the requestor and shall deny the request for that reason.

d)         The requestor shall be billed for such fees at the time the records are provided.  Payment shall be remitted by check or money order, made payable to the Department of Professional Regulation and shall be sent to the Freedom of Information Officer.  No appeals or additional request shall be accepted for processing until the requestor has paid all outstanding charges.

e)         Charges shall be waived if the requestor is a State agency, a constitutional officer or a member of the General Assembly and if the requestor is making the request in an official capacity and in discharge of business of the State of Illinois.  Charges may be waived in any other case where the Freedom of Information Officer determines that the waiver serves the public interest.

(Source:  Amended at 10 Ill. Reg. 20243, effective November 25, 1986)