A government oversight group is urging the Illinois attorney general's public access counselor to subpoena the City of Carlinville for records the group has been asking for since February.
The counselor's office has sent a second request to Carlinville for a response to its alleged refusal to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted by the Edgar County Watchdogs (ECW). The ECW asked for records of training certificates for the city’s FOIA officers and assistants, copies of the city’s credit and debit card statements for the previous six months, copies of the minutes for City Council meetings for the previous six months, and copies of Open Meetings Act training certificates for council members and the mayor.
The city did not initially respond within the required five-day period, the ECW has claimed, leading to the counselor's first letter. Through an attorney, the city notified the ECW that it was treating the request as a commercial request. The ECW sent a second request for review to the counselor, challenging the commercial designation. The counselor again asked the city to respond, which it had not done as of May 9, the ECW said.
"The AG’s Public Access Counselor has subpoena power under the FOIA and I suggest they use it," the ECW posted on its Illinois Leaks website recently.
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