“The basic function of the Freedom of Information Act is to ensure informed citizens, vital to the functioning of a democratic society.” – FOIA.gov
Records requests:
State records request generator: https://splc.org/lettergenerator/
RCFP’s federal FOIA generator: https://www.ifoia.org/
US Dept of Justice: www.FOIA.gov
EPA, OSHA & Compliance:
Illinois Emergency Management Agency IEMA: https://public.iema.state.il.us/FOIAHazmatSearch/
US EPA toxic release inventory explorer: https://enviro.epa.gov/triexplorer/tri_release.chemical
US EPA – ECHO Enforcement and Compliance History Online https://echo.epa.gov/
US OSHA establishment search: https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/establishment.html
US OSHA fatality inspection data: https://www.osha.gov/dep/fatcat/dep_fatcat.html
US National Response Center pollution spills: http://nrc.uscg.mil/
Companies:
EDGAR SEC filings: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html
EDGAR full-text search: https://searchwww.sec.gov/EDGARFSClient/jsp/EDGAR_MainAccess.jsp
Sqoop.com (SEC alert service): https://sqoop.com/
SECFilings.com (SEC alert service): http://secfilings.com/
Federal contracts & grants: https://www.usas pending.gov/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/
Business immigration visa application lookup: https://seasonaljobs.dol.gov/jobs
US Patent lookup: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-adv.htm
US trademark lookup: https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/search-trademark-database
Courts & Crime:
US Education Department Clery Act crime data: https://ope.ed.gov/campussafety/#/
Pacer (subscription required): https://pacer.login.uscourts.gov/csologin/login.jsf
US Supreme Court opinions: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/opinions.aspx
Request US judges financial disclosures: http://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/ao010a.pdf
People:
LexisNexis Due Diligence service (subscription required): https://www.lexisnexis.com/dd/auth/signonform.do
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/
US Office of Gov’t Ethics financial disclosures for executive branch employees: https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden.nsf/PAS%20Index?OpenView
US House members, candidates financial disclosures: http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial-search.aspx
US Senate members, candidates financial disclosures: https://efdsearch.senate.gov/search/home/
US House office disbursements: https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/open-government/statement-of-disbursements
Legistorm (subscription required): https://www.legistorm.com/
Federal Election Commission federal campaign finance data: https://www.fec.gov/data/
US Government Accountability Office: https://www.gao.gov/
US Congressional Research Service reports: https://www.everycrsreport.com/
Nonprofits:
Propublica Nonprofit Explorer: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/
Guidestar: https://www.guidestar.org/Home.aspx
CitizenAudit (full-text searches of 990 tax returns): https://www.citizenaudit.org/
Lobbyists:
US Federal Business Opportunities: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&tab=search&mode=list
US Federal Procurement Data System: https://www.fpds.gov
Justice Department foreign agents lobbying filings: https://www.justice.gov/nsd-fara
Protect Starved Rock and The Illinois Valley 