Represented by the MacArthur Justice Center, BGA and DuPage County service provider Radical Hospitality Ministries, has filed ...

For nearly five years, the Better Government Association, through its leadership of the Court Transparency Coalition, has worked alongside lawmakers, civic organizations, and advocates to push for ...

The Better Government Association is a non-partisan, non-profit news organization and civic advocate working for transparency, efficiency and accountability in government in Chicago and across ...

The foundational principle of Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act is that the public is entitled to “full and complete information regarding the affairs of government.” Many stakeholders — ...

For first-time watchers, Chicago’s City Council can seem incomprehensible. Most of the business is done in a routine, rapid-fire succession of votes and gavel raps, punctuated by repetitions of the ...

A BGA Policy analysis of the 16 county detention centers across Illinois has found that only three successfully have completed audits mandated by federal law to enforce protections against sexual ...

In a memo sent Friday to the Chicago City Council’s ethics committee, city Inspector General Deborah Witzburg laid out a series of what her office characterizes as obstructions by the city’s law ...

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 20: A sign hangs outside of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge on January 20, 2023 in Chicago. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Salaries and bonuses for Chicago police ...

The Chicago Police Department is by far the largest city department, in terms of both headcount and budgeted appropriations. CPD positions make up 38.6% of the city’s total budgeted headcount in the ...

Under Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act, there is a presumption that government records are open to the public. Body cam footage is an anomaly. Its availability is dictated by the Law Enforcement ...

Chicago taxpayers are on the hook for an average $93.6 million a year for legal judgments and settlements against the city. A Better Government Association policy team analysis found that after years ...

Chicago’s City Council is off to a slow start in 2023: Only about 40% of its time in session so far this year – or about two of every five hours between the opening and closing gavels– has been spent ...