Request 028 — 1/28/2026

G-Suite or Outlook? Doesn’t matter!

It’s Wednesday, happy foiaday!

I did some recent promo of the newsletter across some socials, and it’s had returns — welcome to any new subscribers! You can catch up on previous issues of foiaday in the archive here.

I’m keeping it very short n’ sweet tonight, and taking a few pages out of the FOIA Advent Calendar book: let’s request for the full array of modern digital productivity suite stuff: calendars, emails, and, hell, ChatGPT logs.

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I’ve done some of this before (ChatGPT logs, for one, happened to be the third request filed for foiaday. I’m still waiting on those documents!) but it’s always good to ask and file around, and re-up requests from time to time.

We’ve gone through a few different municipalities and local agencies so far — like Naperville and code enforcement, and requesting militia records (!) from Clark County — but I’m always, forever, curious about the state of things in my hometown, Bolingbrook.

(I’ve written a bit about Bolingbrook before, and why I might be requesting records from it, in a different newsletter.)

I don’t want to limit it to just Bolingbrook, though; let’s branch out to the county level, too. With that in mind, we can file for those records frommmmm:

• the Village of Bolingbrook’s mayor, Mary Alexander-Basta

• and the Bolingbrook Police Department chief, Mike Rompa

• the Will County executive, Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant

• the Will County sheriff, Mike Kelley

So! With all of that in mind, here’s the language I’m using:

- All emails sent, received, cc'ed or bcc'ed from [user] between 1/1/2026 and 1/28/2026 (or whenever this request is processed). If the amount of emails returned exceeds five hundred, please release a log of emails, including the date of each email, the sender, the recipient, the subject line and any associated attachment names. Please release documents in a .xlsx, .pdf, .eml or .msg format, whatever is easiest for the office.

- Calendar appointments and events by week (including but not limited to Outlook and Google Calendar) for the period between 1/1/2026 and 1/28/2026 (or whenever this request is processed) for [user].

I’m grabbing the language for ChatGPT logs from the previous requests I filed with the Chicago Police Department, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and Illinois State Police, inspired by KNKX/Cascade PBS reporter Nate Sanford:

Chat histories of all ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot sessions conducted by [user] on employer-owned devices or on personal devices but used in job-related functions. The timeframe for this request is 1/1/2024 to present (1/28/2026) or the date this request is processed. 

If it’s helpful, please use the following instructions for exporting ChatGPT histories:
- Click on your name or profile icon (bottom-left corner of the ChatGPT interface).
- Select ”Settings”.
- Go to the ”Data Controls” tab.
- Click ”Export data”. A pop-up will appear — click ”Confirm export”.
- OpenAI will email you a download link with a `.zip` file containing your chat history in JSON format (and HTML for easy viewing).

And the following information for exporting Microsoft Copilot chats:https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/export-teams-content-copilot 

Please release information in a digitized format, like a .pdf, if at all possible. 

I have some of this from I think Will County, but not from the other agencies, so we’ll request for FOIA logs and records retention schedules, too:

- A log, list, document or data to show all records requests filed with this agency (like a "FOIA log") between 1/1/205 and the present (1/28/2026 or whenever this request is processed). Please release documents in a digitized format.

- The most recent records retention schedule for the agency, which includes a list of documents kept by the agency and for how long each record is retained. This may be called a general records schedule, a records index, or something else. Please release this in a .pdf if possible.

I’m excited to get some things back (as excited as you can be for some pretty run-of-the-mill requests). I’ve been on a tear of really out-there requests lately, so it feels nice and normal to put out more general FOIAs.

From a reporting standpoint, this is a great habit to get into in order to build or familiarize yourself with a beat, by getting a feel for the conversations being had, records being generated and tools used.

On a different bent: this Friday, I’ll be hosting my final FOIAFriday for MuckRock! I’ll be joined by the illustrious Chicago author, historian and journalist Robert Loerzel, and the inimitable New York Times investigative reporter Steve Eder, in a panel discussion about using FOIA to obtain historical records and documents.

It’ll be recorded and uploaded to YouTube, but if you’re free at 12 pm Central Time on Friday and want to hop on a lunchtime Zoom and say hi, here’s where to register.

Okay. I’m going to top up my tea, let the dog out for a very quick and cold walk around the block, and dream of returned records and compliance with state statutes.

Happy filing, everyone!

Cam