This is a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) non-binding opinion issued by the Illinois Attorney General Public Access Counselor in response to a request for review submitted by Local Labs Media Services. The requester alleged that their request to the Cook County Clerk’s Office should be treated as coming from news media, however the PAC determined that the requester did not qualify as news media since they were simply repackaging data and selling it (at a starting price of $500). The requester therefore was not acting as news media as that term is defined in the FOIA, and that the Cook County Clerk did not need to release certain records because the requester’s purpose was commercial in nature.
Local Labs Media Services v Cook County FOIA Request for Review – 2017 PAC 49876