A proposed bill in Illinois would exempt from disclosure junk mail that the government might receive.

HB0021, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Didech, would update the statute’s definition of a “public record” to exclude “junk mail,” defined as “any unsolicited commercial mail sent to a public body and not responded to by an official.”

Illinois would not be the first to exclude so-called junk mail from public records requests: Utah uses the same term, and has a similar definition on the books.

Rep. Didech has proposed nearly a dozen changes to the state FOIA law this legislative session. All of his bills, including the junk mail one, are still in committee.

See other bills related to public records and open meetings in Illinois and across the country at the Brechner FOI Project’s national Secrecy Tracker.

Posted: April 23, 2026
Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Secrecy Tracker