On May 9, 2017, the Illinois Appellate Court held that the College of DuPage Foundation (Foundation), a fundraising organization for the public College of DuPage (College), is subject to the state’s open records law. In doing so, the Court rejected the Foundation’s argument that it was a charitable organization with no public role, and instead found that the Foundation was performing a government function for the College.

In April 2015, the College and the Foundation received a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from the Chicago Tribune (Tribune) seeking, among other documents, any federal grand jury subpoena received by the Foundation. The College responded that it did not have any responsive documents, and the Foundation stated that it was not subject to FOIA. The College had, in fact, received a federal grand jury subpoena (Subpoena) directed to the Foundation, which was provided to the Foundation and then delivered to the Foundation’s outside counsel. After it was denied access to the Subpoena, the Tribune brought suit against both the Foundation and the College. 
Continue Reading Illinois Court Rules That College Foundation Documents Subject to FOIA