103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3171

 

Introduced 2/6/2024, by Sen. Donald P. DeWitte

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
5 ILCS 140/7

    Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that proposals or bids submitted by engineering consultants in response to requests for proposal or other competitive bidding requests by the Department of Transportation or the Illinois Toll Highway Authority are exempt from disclosure under the Act.


LRB103 37872 AWJ 68003 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3171LRB103 37872 AWJ 68003 b

1    AN ACT concerning government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
5changing Section 7 as follows:
 
6    (5 ILCS 140/7)
7    Sec. 7. Exemptions.
8    (1) When a request is made to inspect or copy a public
9record that contains information that is exempt from
10disclosure under this Section, but also contains information
11that is not exempt from disclosure, the public body may elect
12to redact the information that is exempt. The public body
13shall make the remaining information available for inspection
14and copying. Subject to this requirement, the following shall
15be exempt from inspection and copying:
16        (a) Information specifically prohibited from
17    disclosure by federal or State law or rules and
18    regulations implementing federal or State law.
19        (b) Private information, unless disclosure is required
20    by another provision of this Act, a State or federal law,
21    or a court order.
22        (b-5) Files, documents, and other data or databases
23    maintained by one or more law enforcement agencies and

 

 

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1    specifically designed to provide information to one or
2    more law enforcement agencies regarding the physical or
3    mental status of one or more individual subjects.
4        (c) Personal information contained within public
5    records, the disclosure of which would constitute a
6    clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, unless
7    the disclosure is consented to in writing by the
8    individual subjects of the information. "Unwarranted
9    invasion of personal privacy" means the disclosure of
10    information that is highly personal or objectionable to a
11    reasonable person and in which the subject's right to
12    privacy outweighs any legitimate public interest in
13    obtaining the information. The disclosure of information
14    that bears on the public duties of public employees and
15    officials shall not be considered an invasion of personal
16    privacy.
17        (d) Records in the possession of any public body
18    created in the course of administrative enforcement
19    proceedings, and any law enforcement or correctional
20    agency for law enforcement purposes, but only to the
21    extent that disclosure would:
22            (i) interfere with pending or actually and
23        reasonably contemplated law enforcement proceedings
24        conducted by any law enforcement or correctional
25        agency that is the recipient of the request;
26            (ii) interfere with active administrative

 

 

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1        enforcement proceedings conducted by the public body
2        that is the recipient of the request;
3            (iii) create a substantial likelihood that a
4        person will be deprived of a fair trial or an impartial
5        hearing;
6            (iv) unavoidably disclose the identity of a
7        confidential source, confidential information
8        furnished only by the confidential source, or persons
9        who file complaints with or provide information to
10        administrative, investigative, law enforcement, or
11        penal agencies; except that the identities of
12        witnesses to traffic crashes, traffic crash reports,
13        and rescue reports shall be provided by agencies of
14        local government, except when disclosure would
15        interfere with an active criminal investigation
16        conducted by the agency that is the recipient of the
17        request;
18            (v) disclose unique or specialized investigative
19        techniques other than those generally used and known
20        or disclose internal documents of correctional
21        agencies related to detection, observation, or
22        investigation of incidents of crime or misconduct, and
23        disclosure would result in demonstrable harm to the
24        agency or public body that is the recipient of the
25        request;
26            (vi) endanger the life or physical safety of law

 

 

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1        enforcement personnel or any other person; or
2            (vii) obstruct an ongoing criminal investigation
3        by the agency that is the recipient of the request.
4        (d-5) A law enforcement record created for law
5    enforcement purposes and contained in a shared electronic
6    record management system if the law enforcement agency
7    that is the recipient of the request did not create the
8    record, did not participate in or have a role in any of the
9    events which are the subject of the record, and only has
10    access to the record through the shared electronic record
11    management system.
12        (d-6) Records contained in the Officer Professional
13    Conduct Database under Section 9.2 of the Illinois Police
14    Training Act, except to the extent authorized under that
15    Section. This includes the documents supplied to the
16    Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board from the
17    Illinois State Police and Illinois State Police Merit
18    Board.
19        (d-7) Information gathered or records created from the
20    use of automatic license plate readers in connection with
21    Section 2-130 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.
22        (e) Records that relate to or affect the security of
23    correctional institutions and detention facilities.
24        (e-5) Records requested by persons committed to the
25    Department of Corrections, Department of Human Services
26    Division of Mental Health, or a county jail if those

 

 

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1    materials are available in the library of the correctional
2    institution or facility or jail where the inmate is
3    confined.
4        (e-6) Records requested by persons committed to the
5    Department of Corrections, Department of Human Services
6    Division of Mental Health, or a county jail if those
7    materials include records from staff members' personnel
8    files, staff rosters, or other staffing assignment
9    information.
10        (e-7) Records requested by persons committed to the
11    Department of Corrections or Department of Human Services
12    Division of Mental Health if those materials are available
13    through an administrative request to the Department of
14    Corrections or Department of Human Services Division of
15    Mental Health.
16        (e-8) Records requested by a person committed to the
17    Department of Corrections, Department of Human Services
18    Division of Mental Health, or a county jail, the
19    disclosure of which would result in the risk of harm to any
20    person or the risk of an escape from a jail or correctional
21    institution or facility.
22        (e-9) Records requested by a person in a county jail
23    or committed to the Department of Corrections or
24    Department of Human Services Division of Mental Health,
25    containing personal information pertaining to the person's
26    victim or the victim's family, including, but not limited

 

 

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1    to, a victim's home address, home telephone number, work
2    or school address, work telephone number, social security
3    number, or any other identifying information, except as
4    may be relevant to a requester's current or potential case
5    or claim.
6        (e-10) Law enforcement records of other persons
7    requested by a person committed to the Department of
8    Corrections, Department of Human Services Division of
9    Mental Health, or a county jail, including, but not
10    limited to, arrest and booking records, mug shots, and
11    crime scene photographs, except as these records may be
12    relevant to the requester's current or potential case or
13    claim.
14        (f) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations,
15    memoranda, and other records in which opinions are
16    expressed, or policies or actions are formulated, except
17    that a specific record or relevant portion of a record
18    shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited and
19    identified by the head of the public body. The exemption
20    provided in this paragraph (f) extends to all those
21    records of officers and agencies of the General Assembly
22    that pertain to the preparation of legislative documents.
23        (g) Trade secrets and commercial or financial
24    information obtained from a person or business where the
25    trade secrets or commercial or financial information are
26    furnished under a claim that they are proprietary,

 

 

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1    privileged, or confidential, and that disclosure of the
2    trade secrets or commercial or financial information would
3    cause competitive harm to the person or business, and only
4    insofar as the claim directly applies to the records
5    requested.
6        The information included under this exemption includes
7    all trade secrets and commercial or financial information
8    obtained by a public body, including a public pension
9    fund, from a private equity fund or a privately held
10    company within the investment portfolio of a private
11    equity fund as a result of either investing or evaluating
12    a potential investment of public funds in a private equity
13    fund. The exemption contained in this item does not apply
14    to the aggregate financial performance information of a
15    private equity fund, nor to the identity of the fund's
16    managers or general partners. The exemption contained in
17    this item does not apply to the identity of a privately
18    held company within the investment portfolio of a private
19    equity fund, unless the disclosure of the identity of a
20    privately held company may cause competitive harm.
21        Nothing contained in this paragraph (g) shall be
22    construed to prevent a person or business from consenting
23    to disclosure.
24        (h) Proposals and bids for any contract, grant, or
25    agreement, including information which if it were
26    disclosed would frustrate procurement or give an advantage

 

 

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1    to any person proposing to enter into a contractor
2    agreement with the body, until an award or final selection
3    is made. Information prepared by or for the body in
4    preparation of a bid solicitation shall be exempt until an
5    award or final selection is made.
6        (i) Valuable formulae, computer geographic systems,
7    designs, drawings, and research data obtained or produced
8    by any public body when disclosure could reasonably be
9    expected to produce private gain or public loss. The
10    exemption for "computer geographic systems" provided in
11    this paragraph (i) does not extend to requests made by
12    news media as defined in Section 2 of this Act when the
13    requested information is not otherwise exempt and the only
14    purpose of the request is to access and disseminate
15    information regarding the health, safety, welfare, or
16    legal rights of the general public.
17        (j) The following information pertaining to
18    educational matters:
19            (i) test questions, scoring keys, and other
20        examination data used to administer an academic
21        examination;
22            (ii) information received by a primary or
23        secondary school, college, or university under its
24        procedures for the evaluation of faculty members by
25        their academic peers;
26            (iii) information concerning a school or

 

 

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1        university's adjudication of student disciplinary
2        cases, but only to the extent that disclosure would
3        unavoidably reveal the identity of the student; and
4            (iv) course materials or research materials used
5        by faculty members.
6        (k) Architects' plans, engineers' technical
7    submissions, and other construction related technical
8    documents for projects not constructed or developed in
9    whole or in part with public funds and the same for
10    projects constructed or developed with public funds,
11    including, but not limited to, power generating and
12    distribution stations and other transmission and
13    distribution facilities, water treatment facilities,
14    airport facilities, sport stadiums, convention centers,
15    and all government owned, operated, or occupied buildings,
16    but only to the extent that disclosure would compromise
17    security.
18        (l) Minutes of meetings of public bodies closed to the
19    public as provided in the Open Meetings Act until the
20    public body makes the minutes available to the public
21    under Section 2.06 of the Open Meetings Act.
22        (m) Communications between a public body and an
23    attorney or auditor representing the public body that
24    would not be subject to discovery in litigation, and
25    materials prepared or compiled by or for a public body in
26    anticipation of a criminal, civil, or administrative

 

 

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1    proceeding upon the request of an attorney advising the
2    public body, and materials prepared or compiled with
3    respect to internal audits of public bodies.
4        (n) Records relating to a public body's adjudication
5    of employee grievances or disciplinary cases; however,
6    this exemption shall not extend to the final outcome of
7    cases in which discipline is imposed.
8        (o) Administrative or technical information associated
9    with automated data processing operations, including, but
10    not limited to, software, operating protocols, computer
11    program abstracts, file layouts, source listings, object
12    modules, load modules, user guides, documentation
13    pertaining to all logical and physical design of
14    computerized systems, employee manuals, and any other
15    information that, if disclosed, would jeopardize the
16    security of the system or its data or the security of
17    materials exempt under this Section.
18        (p) Records relating to collective negotiating matters
19    between public bodies and their employees or
20    representatives, except that any final contract or
21    agreement shall be subject to inspection and copying.
22        (q) Test questions, scoring keys, and other
23    examination data used to determine the qualifications of
24    an applicant for a license or employment.
25        (r) The records, documents, and information relating
26    to real estate purchase negotiations until those

 

 

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1    negotiations have been completed or otherwise terminated.
2    With regard to a parcel involved in a pending or actually
3    and reasonably contemplated eminent domain proceeding
4    under the Eminent Domain Act, records, documents, and
5    information relating to that parcel shall be exempt except
6    as may be allowed under discovery rules adopted by the
7    Illinois Supreme Court. The records, documents, and
8    information relating to a real estate sale shall be exempt
9    until a sale is consummated.
10        (s) Any and all proprietary information and records
11    related to the operation of an intergovernmental risk
12    management association or self-insurance pool or jointly
13    self-administered health and accident cooperative or pool.
14    Insurance or self-insurance (including any
15    intergovernmental risk management association or
16    self-insurance pool) claims, loss or risk management
17    information, records, data, advice, or communications.
18        (t) Information contained in or related to
19    examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by,
20    on behalf of, or for the use of a public body responsible
21    for the regulation or supervision of financial
22    institutions, insurance companies, or pharmacy benefit
23    managers, unless disclosure is otherwise required by State
24    law.
25        (u) Information that would disclose or might lead to
26    the disclosure of secret or confidential information,

 

 

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1    codes, algorithms, programs, or private keys intended to
2    be used to create electronic signatures under the Uniform
3    Electronic Transactions Act.
4        (v) Vulnerability assessments, security measures, and
5    response policies or plans that are designed to identify,
6    prevent, or respond to potential attacks upon a
7    community's population or systems, facilities, or
8    installations, but only to the extent that disclosure
9    could reasonably be expected to expose the vulnerability
10    or jeopardize the effectiveness of the measures, policies,
11    or plans, or the safety of the personnel who implement
12    them or the public. Information exempt under this item may
13    include such things as details pertaining to the
14    mobilization or deployment of personnel or equipment, to
15    the operation of communication systems or protocols, to
16    cybersecurity vulnerabilities, or to tactical operations.
17        (w) (Blank).
18        (x) Maps and other records regarding the location or
19    security of generation, transmission, distribution,
20    storage, gathering, treatment, or switching facilities
21    owned by a utility, by a power generator, or by the
22    Illinois Power Agency.
23        (y) Information contained in or related to proposals,
24    bids, or negotiations related to electric power
25    procurement under Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power
26    Agency Act and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities

 

 

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1    Act that is determined to be confidential and proprietary
2    by the Illinois Power Agency or by the Illinois Commerce
3    Commission.
4        (z) Information about students exempted from
5    disclosure under Section 10-20.38 or 34-18.29 of the
6    School Code, and information about undergraduate students
7    enrolled at an institution of higher education exempted
8    from disclosure under Section 25 of the Illinois Credit
9    Card Marketing Act of 2009.
10        (aa) Information the disclosure of which is exempted
11    under the Viatical Settlements Act of 2009.
12        (bb) Records and information provided to a mortality
13    review team and records maintained by a mortality review
14    team appointed under the Department of Juvenile Justice
15    Mortality Review Team Act.
16        (cc) Information regarding interments, entombments, or
17    inurnments of human remains that are submitted to the
18    Cemetery Oversight Database under the Cemetery Care Act or
19    the Cemetery Oversight Act, whichever is applicable.
20        (dd) Correspondence and records (i) that may not be
21    disclosed under Section 11-9 of the Illinois Public Aid
22    Code or (ii) that pertain to appeals under Section 11-8 of
23    the Illinois Public Aid Code.
24        (ee) The names, addresses, or other personal
25    information of persons who are minors and are also
26    participants and registrants in programs of park

 

 

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1    districts, forest preserve districts, conservation
2    districts, recreation agencies, and special recreation
3    associations.
4        (ff) The names, addresses, or other personal
5    information of participants and registrants in programs of
6    park districts, forest preserve districts, conservation
7    districts, recreation agencies, and special recreation
8    associations where such programs are targeted primarily to
9    minors.
10        (gg) Confidential information described in Section
11    1-100 of the Illinois Independent Tax Tribunal Act of
12    2012.
13        (hh) The report submitted to the State Board of
14    Education by the School Security and Standards Task Force
15    under item (8) of subsection (d) of Section 2-3.160 of the
16    School Code and any information contained in that report.
17        (ii) Records requested by persons committed to or
18    detained by the Department of Human Services under the
19    Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act or committed to
20    the Department of Corrections under the Sexually Dangerous
21    Persons Act if those materials: (i) are available in the
22    library of the facility where the individual is confined;
23    (ii) include records from staff members' personnel files,
24    staff rosters, or other staffing assignment information;
25    or (iii) are available through an administrative request
26    to the Department of Human Services or the Department of

 

 

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1    Corrections.
2        (jj) Confidential information described in Section
3    5-535 of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois.
4        (kk) The public body's credit card numbers, debit card
5    numbers, bank account numbers, Federal Employer
6    Identification Number, security code numbers, passwords,
7    and similar account information, the disclosure of which
8    could result in identity theft or impression or defrauding
9    of a governmental entity or a person.
10        (ll) Records concerning the work of the threat
11    assessment team of a school district, including, but not
12    limited to, any threat assessment procedure under the
13    School Safety Drill Act and any information contained in
14    the procedure.
15        (mm) Information prohibited from being disclosed under
16    subsections (a) and (b) of Section 15 of the Student
17    Confidential Reporting Act.
18        (nn) Proprietary information submitted to the
19    Environmental Protection Agency under the Drug Take-Back
20    Act.
21        (oo) Records described in subsection (f) of Section
22    3-5-1 of the Unified Code of Corrections.
23        (pp) Any and all information regarding burials,
24    interments, or entombments of human remains as required to
25    be reported to the Department of Natural Resources
26    pursuant either to the Archaeological and Paleontological

 

 

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1    Resources Protection Act or the Human Remains Protection
2    Act.
3        (qq) (pp) Reports described in subsection (e) of
4    Section 16-15 of the Abortion Care Clinical Training
5    Program Act.
6        (rr) (pp) Information obtained by a certified local
7    health department under the Access to Public Health Data
8    Act.
9        (ss) (pp) For a request directed to a public body that
10    is also a HIPAA-covered entity, all information that is
11    protected health information, including demographic
12    information, that may be contained within or extracted
13    from any record held by the public body in compliance with
14    State and federal medical privacy laws and regulations,
15    including, but not limited to, the Health Insurance
16    Portability and Accountability Act and its regulations, 45
17    CFR Parts 160 and 164. As used in this paragraph,
18    "HIPAA-covered entity" has the meaning given to the term
19    "covered entity" in 45 CFR 160.103 and "protected health
20    information" has the meaning given to that term in 45 CFR
21    160.103.
22        (tt) Proposals or bids submitted by engineering
23    consultants in response to requests for proposal or other
24    competitive bidding requests by the Department of
25    Transportation or the Illinois Toll Highway Authority.
26    (1.5) Any information exempt from disclosure under the

 

 

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1Judicial Privacy Act shall be redacted from public records
2prior to disclosure under this Act.
3    (2) A public record that is not in the possession of a
4public body but is in the possession of a party with whom the
5agency has contracted to perform a governmental function on
6behalf of the public body, and that directly relates to the
7governmental function and is not otherwise exempt under this
8Act, shall be considered a public record of the public body,
9for purposes of this Act.
10    (3) This Section does not authorize withholding of
11information or limit the availability of records to the
12public, except as stated in this Section or otherwise provided
13in this Act.
14(Source: P.A. 102-38, eff. 6-25-21; 102-558, eff. 8-20-21;
15102-694, eff. 1-7-22; 102-752, eff. 5-6-22; 102-753, eff.
161-1-23; 102-776, eff. 1-1-23; 102-791, eff. 5-13-22; 102-982,
17eff. 7-1-23; 102-1055, eff. 6-10-22; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23;
18103-423, eff. 1-1-24; 103-446, eff. 8-4-23; 103-462, eff.
198-4-23; 103-540, eff. 1-1-24; 103-554, eff. 1-1-24; revised
209-7-23.)