97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
SB1645

 

Introduced 2/9/2011, by Sen. Edward D. Maloney

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
5 ILCS 140/3  from Ch. 116, par. 203

    Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Changes a subsection cross-reference in provisions governing a public body's request response period. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

SB1645LRB097 09936 JDS 50100 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 3 as follows:
 
6    (5 ILCS 140/3)  (from Ch. 116, par. 203)
7    Sec. 3. (a) Each public body shall make available to any
8person for inspection or copying all public records, except as
9otherwise provided in Section 7 of this Act. Notwithstanding
10any other law, a public body may not grant to any person or
11entity, whether by contract, license, or otherwise, the
12exclusive right to access and disseminate any public record as
13defined in this Act.
14    (b) Subject to the fee provisions of Section 6 of this Act,
15each public body shall promptly provide, to any person who
16submits a request, a copy of any public record required to be
17disclosed by subsection (a) of this Section and shall certify
18such copy if so requested.
19    (c) Requests for inspection or copies shall be made in
20writing and directed to the public body. Written requests may
21be submitted to a public body via personal delivery, mail,
22telefax, or other means available to the public body. A public
23body may honor oral requests for inspection or copying. A

 

 

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1public body may not require that a request be submitted on a
2standard form or require the requester to specify the purpose
3for a request, except to determine whether the records are
4requested for a commercial purpose or whether to grant a
5request for a fee waiver. All requests for inspection and
6copying received by a public body shall immediately be
7forwarded to its Freedom of Information officer or designee.
8    (d) Each public body shall, promptly, either comply with or
9deny a request for public records within 5 business days after
10its receipt of the request, unless the time for response is
11properly extended under subsection (e) of this Section. Denial
12shall be in writing as provided in Section 9 of this Act.
13Failure to comply with a written request, extend the time for
14response, or deny a request within 5 business days after its
15receipt shall be considered a denial of the request. A public
16body that fails to respond to a request within the requisite
17periods in this Section but thereafter provides the requester
18with copies of the requested public records may not impose a
19fee for such copies. A public body that fails to respond to a
20request received may not treat the request as unduly burdensome
21under subsection (g).
22    (e) The time for response under this Section may be
23extended by the public body for not more than 5 business days
24from the original due date for any of the following reasons:
25        (i) the requested records are stored in whole or in
26    part at other locations than the office having charge of

 

 

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1    the requested records;
2        (ii) the request requires the collection of a
3    substantial number of specified records;
4        (iii) the request is couched in categorical terms and
5    requires an extensive search for the records responsive to
6    it;
7        (iv) the requested records have not been located in the
8    course of routine search and additional efforts are being
9    made to locate them;
10        (v) the requested records require examination and
11    evaluation by personnel having the necessary competence
12    and discretion to determine if they are exempt from
13    disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be
14    revealed only with appropriate deletions;
15        (vi) the request for records cannot be complied with by
16    the public body within the time limits prescribed by
17    paragraph (d) (c) of this Section without unduly burdening
18    or interfering with the operations of the public body;
19        (vii) there is a need for consultation, which shall be
20    conducted with all practicable speed, with another public
21    body or among two or more components of a public body
22    having a substantial interest in the determination or in
23    the subject matter of the request.
24    The person making a request and the public body may agree
25in writing to extend the time for compliance for a period to be
26determined by the parties. If the requester and the public body

 

 

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1agree to extend the period for compliance, a failure by the
2public body to comply with any previous deadlines shall not be
3treated as a denial of the request for the records.
4    (f) When additional time is required for any of the above
5reasons, the public body shall, within 5 business days after
6receipt of the request, notify the person making the request of
7the reasons for the extension and the date by which the
8response will be forthcoming. Failure to respond within the
9time permitted for extension shall be considered a denial of
10the request. A public body that fails to respond to a request
11within the time permitted for extension but thereafter provides
12the requester with copies of the requested public records may
13not impose a fee for those copies. A public body that requests
14an extension and subsequently fails to respond to the request
15may not treat the request as unduly burdensome under subsection
16(g).
17    (g) Requests calling for all records falling within a
18category shall be complied with unless compliance with the
19request would be unduly burdensome for the complying public
20body and there is no way to narrow the request and the burden
21on the public body outweighs the public interest in the
22information. Before invoking this exemption, the public body
23shall extend to the person making the request an opportunity to
24confer with it in an attempt to reduce the request to
25manageable proportions. If any body responds to a categorical
26request by stating that compliance would unduly burden its

 

 

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1operation and the conditions described above are met, it shall
2do so in writing, specifying the reasons why it would be unduly
3burdensome and the extent to which compliance will so burden
4the operations of the public body. Such a response shall be
5treated as a denial of the request for information.
6    Repeated requests from the same person for the same records
7that are unchanged or identical to records previously provided
8or properly denied under this Act shall be deemed unduly
9burdensome under this provision.
10    (h) Each public body may promulgate rules and regulations
11in conformity with the provisions of this Section pertaining to
12the availability of records and procedures to be followed,
13including:
14        (i) the times and places where such records will be
15    made available, and
16        (ii) the persons from whom such records may be
17    obtained.
18    (i) The time periods for compliance or denial of a request
19to inspect or copy records set out in this Section shall not
20apply to requests for records made for a commercial purpose.
21Such requests shall be subject to the provisions of Section 3.1
22of this Act.
23(Source: P.A. 96-542, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
24    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
25becoming law.