MASCOUTAH CLARITY GROUP Mascoutah, Illinois
A citizen public-records effort

Clarity in the public business of Mascoutah.

We are residents seeking a clearer picture of how our city is governed. We request public records through the channels the law provides, and we publish what we receive — intact, unedited, and open to every member of the community.

How we work

Records, not rumors

We rely on documents obtained under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140) and other public sources. What we can't verify, we don't publish.

Intact and unedited

Every record is shared exactly as the city produced it — complete, in context, including any redactions the city applied. Nothing is trimmed to fit a narrative.

Open to everyone

Officials, employees, and residents all read the same documents here. There is no membership, no paywall, and no private version of the record.

The record

A running docket of our requests and the records that come back. Each entry links to the full documents as they are received.

FileMatterStatus
MCG-2026-001Filed Jul 8, 2026

Fire Department operations, policies & administration

FOIA request to the City of Mascoutah for standard operating guidelines and their history, ISO/PPC classification records, apparatus inspection and maintenance records, complaints and grievances, the Fire Department Administrative Assistant position, and oversight activity by the City Manager and Board of Fire & Police Commissioners.

Jul 9, 2026 — Delivered to the City Clerk (USPS certified, signed)
Jul 16, 2026 — Statutory response deadline (5 business days, 5 ILCS 140/3(d))
Jul 9–16, 2026 — No written extension was claimed during the statutory period (5 ILCS 140/3(e))
Jul 24, 2026 — City's response received by email — 8 days past the statutory deadline
Jul 27, 2026 — Responsive FOIA documents received in full
Jul 28, 2026 — Item-by-item review of the City's response completed; report prepared
8 Days past the statutory deadline
response received Jul 24; documents received Jul 27 — deadline was Jul 16, 2026 (5 ILCS 140/3(d))

On the delay: the City has explained that its responses were initially sent to an incorrect address, and that the size of the responsive production created additional complications in transferring the documents. We acknowledge and accept that explanation. The record above stands as a matter of law — the response arrived after the deadline, and no written extension was claimed (5 ILCS 140/3(e)) — but the cause appears to have been administrative error and technical difficulty, not refusal. Although delayed, we recognize the City's efforts to fulfill this request and its good faith in working through it.

Current status: the item-by-item review of the City's response is complete. The review reports what was produced, what was not, and what (if anything) was withheld and on what stated basis — every fact drawn from the City's own written answers and the records it produced. The report is available below under restricted access pending its general release; the source documents themselves will be posted here, intact and unedited.

Review of the City's response — item-by-item report (access code required) →
To request access to the review, email contact@mascoutah-clarity.org.
Read the request as filed (PDF) →
Certified mail receipt & tracking (USPS 7022 0410 0002 8179 5446) →

Response reviewed — report available
Statutory response time under Illinois FOIA: 5 business days from receipt (5 ILCS 140/3). Extensions and responses are logged as they occur.

Why this exists

Good government depends on an informed public, and an informed public depends on access to the record. Illinois law declares that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government. This site is simply that principle, practiced locally.

We are not affiliated with the City of Mascoutah or any of its departments. We hold no position other than this: the community is entitled to see its own records, and conclusions should be drawn from documents, not speculation. Where the record reflects well on the city, we will publish that too.

The law we rely on

Public access to government records is not a favor — it is codified at every level of government. These are the authorities that govern the records published here.

LevelAuthorityReference
STATEPrimary authority

Illinois Freedom of Information Act — 5 ILCS 140

The statute that governs records of Illinois cities, including Mascoutah. It declares that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government, requires a response within 5 business days, and lets any person — or group — request records without stating a reason. Denials may be appealed at no cost to the Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Counselor. See also the Open Meetings Act (5 ILCS 120), which keeps city council and board meetings, agendas, and minutes public.

Read statute
CITYLocal procedure

City of Mascoutah FOIA procedures

The City implements the state Act through its own published procedures: written requests are submitted to the City Clerk (3 West Main Street, Mascoutah, IL 62258), the first 50 pages are free, and the City posts its FOIA rules, organizational chart, and directory of offices online.

City FOIA page
FEDERALContext

Freedom of Information Act — 5 U.S.C. § 552

The federal FOIA applies to federal agencies, not to city or state records — but it established the principle, in force since 1967, that citizens may inspect the records of their government. Requests involving federal agencies (for example, records held by federal regulators) would proceed under this statute.

FOIA.gov
Oversight: Illinois Attorney General, Public Access Counselor — illinoisattorneygeneral.gov. Requests for review of a denial must be filed within 60 days.

Contact & contributions

Write to us

Questions, corrections, and relevant public documents are welcome. If you believe anything published here is inaccurate or incomplete, tell us — corrections are made promptly and noted on the record.