The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is an Illinois statute that grants to all persons the right to copy and inspect public records in the state.

All records related to governmental business are presumed to be open for inspection by the public, except for information specifically exempted from disclosure by law.

[2] Since binding opinions are subject to legal challenge in the courts, the PAC is intentionally conservative in issuing them, seeing itself as an alternative to litigation.

Non-substantive dispositions include complaints that were resolved through agreement or mediation, withdrawn, untimely, or otherwise procedurally defective.

Requesters were not likely to appeal to the courts, creating a natural deterrent that public bodies leveraged to avoid full compliance.

With this new law, requesters were allowed to submit "requests for review" to the PAC, which became a more viable alternative to litigation because it provided a level "playing field" between two government agencies (the PAC and the public body being challenged), rather than pitting private citizens against public bodies with more resources.

The General Assembly also authorized the PAC to issue subpoenas and file lawsuits in the circuit courts to force compliance with a binding opinion or prevent violations of the law.

[9] Nonetheless, supporters viewed the backlog as a sign of growing pains and an expected outcome of the new enforcement mechanisms.

[10] Terry Pastika, executive director of the Citizen Advocacy Center, viewed the new appeals process as an "enormous improvement" from before, despite the delays.

[11] ProPublica and the Chicago Sun-Times published a report on the PAC in 2018, labeling it "an overwhelmed and inconsistent enforcement system".

[2] ProPublica further criticized the PAC's weak enforcement actions in the aftermath of the murder of Laquan McDonald by an officer of the Chicago Police Department in October 2014.

A lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County was instrumental in securing the release of a video recording of McDonald's murder in November 2015, while the PAC's involvement was delayed and its opinion non-binding.