“Why Is La Salle Suddenly Charging for Public Records?”

City of La Salle Threatens Public With FOIA Fees After Years of Compliance”

By Jamie Hicks, Hicks News

4/7/2025

For years, the City of La Salle honored public records requests under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) without charging residents a single dollar. As an independent journalist and longtime requester, I’ve submitted hundreds of FOIA requests to the city since 2023—and never once was I told I had to pay.

That changed on March 31, 2025.

My wife, Dena Hicks, submitted a FOIA request about the Safe Walk to School program—a publicly funded initiative meant to ensure children have safe paths to school. She asked for documents related to grant applications, project selections, ordinances, and emails involving city official Brian Brown.

The city’s response? A warning: “Your FOIA Request is voluminous in nature... just over 1,000 pages of records would need to be reviewed and redacted.” They continued, “You have ten (10) business days... to amend and/or narrow your request.” If she didn’t? The city would proceed and “assess any fees permitted under Section 6” of FOIA.

For the first time in its modern history, the City of La Salle is demanding money to provide access to public records.

The city included a fee schedule:

• Up to 80 MB – $20

• 80 MB – 160 MB – $40

• Over 160 MB – $100
  
  

They also stated, “Failure to pay will be considered a debt due and owing to the City.”

Let’s be clear—this is a dramatic policy shift. There’s no known record of the city charging anyone for FOIA responses before. I’ve filed hundreds of requests, some very detailed, and never faced a fee or a “voluminous” designation. What makes this request different? It came from my wife. And it asked tough questions about how the city is using grant money for sidewalks around schools.

In a brief concession, the city offered partial answers: one job completed near Lincoln School, several proposed projects including Malcom and Illinois Streets, and the use of TIF and MFT funds. But they still insisted the broader request was too large unless Dina narrowed it or paid.

This isn’t about costs—it’s about control and intimidation. It’s about discouraging public oversight in the wake of Mayor Jeff Grove’s re-election—after 20 years in power.

And the city knows the state’s watchdog agency, the Public Access Counselor (PAC), won’t move quickly. They even included instructions to appeal, knowing that such complaints sit for months or even years, while officials cover their tracks.

This tactic is part of a growing pattern: Delay, Deny, Deflect.

But we’re not backing down. If the city wants to hide public records behind paywalls and red tape, we’ll expose the process. Every request. Every obstruction. Every retaliatory move.

The public has a right to know how sidewalk safety near schools is being handled. And no public body should ever punish citizens—or their spouses—for asking questions.