Wood River attorney Thomas Maag is suing the chief of the Firearms Services Bureau for denying a FOID card application submitted by a man charged - but not convicted - with three felonies, which were later dismissed.
Maag filed the lawsuit on behalf of plaintiff Zackary Taylor Bell in the Madison County Circuit Court against Adam Doe and Jeffrey Yenchko, chief of the Firearms Services Bureau. Yenchko is responsible for issuing Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) cards.
According to the complaint, Bell was previously charged with three felonies in Madison County but was not convicted in any of the cases. The charges were later dismissed and are no longer pending.
Maag wrote that Bell applied for a FOID card in 2022 after the charges were dismissed, which is required in Illinois in order to lawfully possess firearms or ammunition. Bell “truthfully marked he was not a convicted felon,” Maag wrote.
On Sept. 12, the defendants allegedly issued a letter to Bell denying his FOID card application “on the false basis he was convicted of the three dismissed felonies.”
“As a result of the FOID card denial, plaintiff cannot lawfully keep and bear arms in Illinois,” Maag wrote.
The suit states that the letter contains the phone number 217-782-7980, which “literally goes straight to a voice mail message, that indicates nobody monitors messages left, no matter what option selected.”
Maag wrote that Bell has a right to keep and bear arms under the Second and 14th Amendments.
“That while plaintiff does not complaint (sic) that his FOID was denied him while being prosecuted, said prosecution is over, and plaintiff remains not convicted,” Maag wrote.
The suit states that Doe is an Illinois State Police employee who personally reviewed the denial letter sent to Bell as part of his appeal. Doe allegedly drafted the Sept. 12 denial letter, “thus depriving plaintiff of any ability to keep and bear arms.”
“Instead, defendant Doe performed a lazy, incompetent and deficient background check,” Maag wrote.
Bell seeks an order directing Yenchko to process and issue the plaintiff a valid FOID card and enjoining Yenchko from denying or failing to approve any request for a firearms transfer to Bell as long as he holds a valid FOID card. He also seeks damages in excess of $50,000, court costs and attorney’s fees.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 22-LA-1442