The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a state law that provides citizens with access to public records.  Each City department is a separate agency responsible for maintaining its own records, so requests should be submitted to the department that maintains the records you want.

All Freedom of Information requests submitted to City of Chicago departments must include the following information:

1. The name, mailing address and contact information of the requester;
2. A description of the records that are being requested.

Submit a FOIA request online

To read the Executive Director's testimony to the Joint Committee on Government Reform of the Illinois Legislature click here

Recognizing that transparency and open government are critical in fostering integrity in City government, the Board of Ethics is committed to providing prompt and professional service to everyone who requests records it maintains.

The purpose of the City of Chicago's Board of Ethics is to administer, interpret and enforce the Governmental Ethics Ordinance, §2-156 which is available on the Board of Ethics web page.

The Board's operating budget for 2017 is $827,000.00.

As permitted by law, the Board of Ethics maintains the following documents and makes them available for inspection, saving and printing upon request:

Statements of Financial Interests filed in calendar years 2009 and after by certain City employees and officials (home addresses and IDs or social security numbers are not shown).  Forms filed in 2009 and 2010 are available in paper or PDF format, upon request.  All forms filed in 2011 and after are available for immediate viewing and printing, without a formal request at the link below.

For Statements filed in 2011 and after.

As mandated by law, the Board of Ethics maintains the following documents in its offices and makes them available for inspection and/or photocopying, upon request:

• STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS filed in paper by certain City employees and officials in the past seven years (home address, ID and social security numbers have been removed);
• LOBBYIST REGISTRATION STATEMENTS AND ACTIVITY REPORTS filed in paper by registered lobbyists in the past seven years;
• DISCLOSURES FILED BY MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL pursuant to §2-156-080(b) of the Governmental Ethics Ordinance from December 1998-present (such disclosures filed in calendar years 2012 and after are posted on this website);
• GIFT DISCLOSURES filed by City employees and officials in years 1997-present;
• FORMAL ADVISORY OPINIONS issued by the Board of Ethics from its inception in 1986. (Note that, as required by the Governmental Ethics Ordinance, all Board opinions are confidential. Thus, identifying information regarding the persons or City department(s) involved in the situations described in these opinions has been removed.)  All formal opinions issued by the Board since 1986 are also available on the Board's website, along with a searchable index.
• Much of this information can be found in the City Data-sets
• The following records are immediately available without a FOIA request: (1) minutes of the open session meetings; and (2) the Governmental Ethics Ordinance and previous versions thereof dating back to 2010. 

FOIA Officers for the Board of Ethics:

Richard J. Superfine, Legal Counsel
Steven I. Berlin, Executive Director
Jef Johnson, Coordinator of Special Projects

There are no boards, commissions, committees or council that operate in an advisory capacity relative to the opinions of the Board of Ethics, or which exercises control over its policies or procedures, or to which the Board of Ethics is required to report and be answerable for its operation.

There are eight full-time employees on the staff of the Board of Ethics. View our Organizational Chart 

To Make a Request:

To inspect and/or photocopy the listed documents, you must make a written request to the Board in one of the methods listed below. Each request must include your name, contact information, whether the request is for a commercial purpose and a clear statement precisely identifying those documents you desire to inspect and/or photocopy. You may submit your request by personal delivery, mail, telefax, or email. If you wish, you may use one of the request forms listed below. The agency is open Monday-Friday from 8:30a.m. to 4:30p.m.

Should you desire copies of the documents, the first 50 pages of black and white letter or legal-sized paper are free of charge. Thereafter, the cost is 15 cents per page for black and white letter or legal-sized paper. Any other requests will be billed at the Board's actual cost of producing the requested records.  Any fees charged will be done so only in accordance with 5 ILCS 140/6.

The Board of Ethics maintains only one location - at the address below.

For Ethics FOIA requests, write to:

Please note that all FOIA requests are posted online.  FOIA requests are public information, and when you submit a FOIA request, your name and information about the request will be made available on the City's website.

Please be specific about the information you are seeking, and indicate the exact locations and dates.  Please indicate in your request how you would like the information sent to you (via email, mail, or available to pick up at our office).

Due to our request volume, the most efficient way for us to respond to questions is via email: BOEfoia@cityofchicago.org

Request Form for Lobbyist Forms

• Request Form for Statements of Financial Interests
• Request Form for other documents maintained by the Board of Ethics

Click here for the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Program & Initiative Page