Cook County sued over access to pre-1916 genealogy indexes — complaint link

I wanted to share this with the genealogy community because it may affect anyone researching family history in Illinois, especially Cook County.

I recently filed a lawsuit in Cook County Chancery Court regarding access to pre-1916 vital-record indexes for genealogical research. My position is that Illinois law requires those historical indexes to be made available for genealogy purposes, and that replacing direct access with an exclusive fee-based, staff-mediated, delayed process is not what the statute requires.

This is a separate lawsuit as I am awaiting a FOIA appeal decision prior to commencing a FOIA lawsuit on the same matter.

This is not just about my own family research. It raises a broader question about whether genealogists, historians, and members of the public can meaningfully access older index materials that the law says should be available.

I am sharing the complaint here for anyone interested in the legal theory, the statutory language, and the access issue itself:

https://www.scribd.com/document/1029298456/Mandamus-Suit-on-Genealogy-Index-Access

I would be especially interested to hear from anyone who has dealt with similar access barriers in Illinois or other states, particularly where agencies try to substitute paid search services for direct genealogical index access.