The Illinois Legislature has an astonishing 22 bills in its current session revolving around the topic of burdensome public records requests. That is far more than most states, which typically have a few such bills, according to research by Samantha Sunne of the Brechner FOI Project.

Six of the bills are concerned with “high volume” or “recurrent requesters” – people who file dozens of requests per year. Some specifically address abusive or exploitative requests. Others are concerned with body cam footage in particular, specifically for profit or social media.

Eight bills propose changing the law’s fee structure or differentiating commercial from noncommercial requests. Two propose lengthening agencies’ response times for especially burdensome tasks, such as reviewing body cam footage.

The Brechner FOI Project is working on a report on legislative bills related to these burdensome requests. To check out the more than 300 bills related to public records filed in Illinois (or any state), visit our Secrecy Tracker.

Posted: February 27, 2026
Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Freedom of Information Project, Government Transparency, Secrecy Tracker