CENTRAL ILLINOIS POLICE TRAINING CENTER
Brian Fengel, Director
Phone: (309) 690-7355
Fax: (309) 690-7359
Heather Grove: hgrove@icc.edu
Jean Swan: jswan@icc.edu
Robert Pyszka: rp717@icc.edu
Freedom of Information
Instructor: Don Hays, Illinois Prosecutor Services
April 8, 2025
8am – 12pm
Class will meet at CIPTC, ICC Peoria Campus, 5407 North University, Poplar Hall P101, Peoria
Enrollment Deadline: April 1, 2025
Course Size: Minimum – 15 Maximum – 64
Course Object
The Freedom of Information Presentation will contain a complete analysis of the current Freedom of Information Statute. This will include a detailed discussion of the terms and definitions listed in the Act. The Illinois Attorney General’s guide to the application of the Freedom of Information Act will be analyzed.
Course Content
This will include the Attorney General’s Opinions on this subject and their determinations of the various problems that arise in dealing with this subject. Relevant case law will be analyzed. Additionally, the Illinois Police Blotter Act and numerous other provisions that have been created to deal with this Act will be discussed and analyzed. Specific topics to be discussed include: the limitations of the Act, various definitions that must be considered, the time deadlines provided by the Act, and the various exclusions from the coverage of the Act. Various techniques in dealing with FOI requests will be discussed and the alternative methods of responding to these requests will be listed and analyzed. In addition, the Local Records Act will be discussed. “Local Records” will be defined. Guidelines for compliance with these provisions concerning both paper and electronic records will be discussed. The required methods of identifying, inventorying, and destroying local records will be analyzed.
About the Instructor: Don Hays
Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from Eastern Illinois University. Twenty-five years’ experience in training State’s Attorneys and Law Enforcement Officers in various areas of the law. Instructor at the Lincoln Land Police Training Institute for five years. Subjects: Arrest, Search and Seizure; Criminal Justice Legislation; Evidence Law; the Controlled Substances and Cannabis Control Acts. Instructor for numerous police training organizations training Law Enforcement Officers on numerous topics related to law enforcement. Produced and presented numerous training presentations for State’s Attorneys. An approved presenter of numerous M-CLE General Law and Ethics presentations for the Office of the Appellate Prosecutor.
Mobile In-Service Training Team#7 Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board
MTU 7 request for certification of this course has been approved by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board
Meets the following mandatory training criteria: Legal Update – 1 hour, Procedural Justice – 3 hours
