Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request

Illinois law requires public bodies to respond to or deny FOIA requests within 5 business days. The response time can be extended for an additional 5 business days, as allowed under the law.

FOIA Requests for Incident Reports

You may wish to wait 5 to 7 days from the date of the incident or the date you made the report before you contact the LCSO Records Division at 847-377-4200 to obtain a report. Depending on the complexity of the report, it takes on average 3 to 5 days for a report to be completed by the deputy; be approved by a command officer; and submitted to the Records Section for further processing.

Reports and other documents requested without a subpoena, court order or specific statutory authority will be treated as a request made under the FOIA. Many of the Sheriff's records may be exempt from disclosure under the provisions of the FOIA, as stated in Section 7 of FOIA. In order to identify records and review them for possible exemptions, the Sheriff may take up to 5 business days to respond to a Records FOIA Request and, if necessary, may take a reasonable period of time thereafter to produce the non-exempt records requested.

When requesting Body Worn Camera (BWC) or any other visual or audio records, you must submit a separate request for these items.
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Complete & Deliver

Please complete a FOIA form (PDF) and send via email
Email: [email protected]

OR
Send by U.S. Mail to:
Lake County Sheriff's Office
Attention: FOIA
25 S Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.
Waukegan, IL 60085

OR
Send by fax: 847.984.5974

You may also hand-deliver your request to 25 S Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.

(Please DO NOT fax and email or fax and U.S. Mail; choose one request method.)


Please be specific in the nature of your request in order for FOIA officers to process your request more efficiently. Please note: Illinois law does not require you to submit on a standard form, but the request should be in writing.
 

FOIA Requests - Adult Corrections

 
If you would like to submit a FOIA request for records maintained by the Lake County Sheriff's Adult Corrections Facility, please click here. The response time can be extended for an additional five working days, as allowed under the law.

Fees

Copy Fees:
  • First 50 pages are free (black and white)
  • $0.15 per page thereafter (black and white)
Electronic records can be requested and will be provided, as allowed under the law.

About the Lake County Sheriff's Office

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has the constitutional and statutory responsibility to enforce federal laws, Illinois State statutes and County ordinances for unincorporated Lake County and contract communities including the Villages of Beach Park, Deer Park, Lake Barrington, Long Grove, Mettawa, North Barrington, and Volo. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office maintains peace and order, arrests offenders, issues traffic citations, serves civil process, maintains the Lake County Adult Correctional facility and provides security for the courts. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office 2019 Annual Budget approved by the Lake County Board is $70,553,648.00, with 494 full-time and 57 part-time employees.