FOIA Request

McHenry County Mental Health Board Policy Governing Access to Public Records

Approved by the McHenry County Mental Health Board on March 19, 2012

SECTION B
POLICIES, RECORDS AND COSTS

Types or categories of records under the control of the MHB:

1.  All McHenry County Mental Health Board Meeting Minutes.
2. Annual Reports and Three Year Plans.
3. Contracts approved by the McHenry County Mental Health Board.
4. Funding Applications are available after funding decisions have been finalized by the McHenry County Mental Health Board.
5. Periodic Financial Reports approved by the McHenry County Mental Health Board.
6. Responses to specific requests for proposals (RFP/RFQ) are available after Vendor’s decisions have been finalized by the McHenry County Mental Health Board.
7. Annual Audits of the McHenry County Mental Health Board.
8. Funded Agencies lists and phone numbers, and contact information.
9. McHenry County Mental Health Board approved Organizational Chart.
10. McHenry County Mental Health Board approved policies.
11. List of McHenry County Mental Health Board Members and contact information.
12. List of Vendors used by the McHenry County Mental Health Board are part of the county’s Vendor List available through the county.

Notwithstanding the below fee schedule:

1. Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge, as determined by the MHB, if the person requesting the documents states the specific purpose for the request and indicates that a waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest. Waiver of reduction of the fee is in the public interest if the principal purpose of the request is to access and disseminate information regarding the health, safety and welfare or the legal rights of the general public and is not for the principal purpose of personal or commercial benefit. For purposes of this Section, “commercial benefit” shall not apply to requests made by news media when the principal purpose of the request is to access and disseminate information regarding the health, safety, and welfare or the legal rights of the general public. In setting the amount of the waiver or reduction, the MHB may take into consideration the amount of materials requested and the cost of copying them.
2. There shall be no charge for the first 50 pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies requested by a Requestor.
3. The MHB may charge up to $10.00 for each hour spent by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested record relative to commercial requests. No fees shall be charged for the first eight (8) hours spent by personnel in searching for or retrieving a requested record. The MHB may charge the actual cost of retrieving and transporting public records from an off-site storage facility when the public records are maintained by a third-party storage company under contract with the MHB. If the MHB imposes a fee pursuant to this paragraph, the MHB must provide the Requestor with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel hours in connection with the request for public records.

SECTION C
McHENRY COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH BOARD INFORMATION

Requests for public records should be submitted to the Executive Director or any FOIA Officer of the MHB. Requests for public records shall be submitted to the following address: Attention: Executive Director or FOIA Officer, McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, IL 60012.

Requests in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and this Policy shall be made in writing via personal delivery, mail, telefax, e-mail, or other means available to the MHB and may but are not required to be made on forms approved by the MHB. The Requestor shall provide the following information in a request for public records:

• The Requestor’s full name, address, and daytime phone number.
• A brief description of the public record(s) sought, being as specific as possible.
• Whether the request is for inspection of public records, copies of public records, or both, copies will be provided in the manner/medium requested or in an agreed upon manner, as feasible.
• Whether the copies of public records requested should be certified.
• Whether the public records requested are requested for a commercial purpose.
• Whether the Requestor is requesting a fee waiver.

The MHB has the following Freedom of Information Officers and their e-mail addresses are, as follows:

1. Leonetta Rizzi (lrizzi@mc708.org).

The MHB is located at 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, IL 60012 and can be reached at (815) 455-2828 or faxed at (815) 455-2925.

The MHB is a separate part of McHenry County Government, provided for in 405 ILCS 20 Section 0.1, et. seq. It was created by a referendum of the residents in McHenry County in 1967. The MHB has a special duty to assure that quality services are provided to the mentally ill, developmentally disabled and chemically abused residents of our county. The MHB is a nine (9) member board, appointed by the Chairperson of the County Board, consisting of the following individuals:

The MHB has the following committees:

Information pertaining to the Mental Health Board’s budget can be found with the complete county budget.