98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB2930

 

Introduced , by Rep. Michael Unes

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
5 ILCS 140/3  from Ch. 116, par. 203
5 ILCS 140/9  from Ch. 116, par. 209

    Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Authorizes and, in some circumstances requires, a public body to respond by electronic mail to requests for public records that it has received by electronic mail.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB2930LRB098 10035 JDS 40194 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 Sections 3 and 9 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. A
12public body may comply with or deny a request for public
13records by electronic mail if the request was submitted by
14electronic mail. Denial shall be sent pursuant to in writing as
15provided in Section 9 of this Act. Failure to comply with a
16written request, extend the time for response, or deny a
17request within 5 business days after its receipt shall be
18considered a denial of the request. A public body that fails to
19respond to a request within the requisite periods in this
20Section but thereafter provides the requester with copies of
21the requested public records may not impose a fee for such
22copies. A public body that fails to respond to a request
23received may not treat the request as unduly burdensome under
24subsection (g).
25    (e) The time for response under this Section may be
26extended by the public body for not more than 5 business days

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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1information. Before invoking this exemption, the public body
2shall extend to the person making the request an opportunity to
3confer with it in an attempt to reduce the request to
4manageable proportions. If any body responds to a categorical
5request by stating that compliance would unduly burden its
6operation and the conditions described above are met, it shall
7do so in writing or, if the request was made by electronic
8mail, by electronic mail, specifying the reasons why it would
9be unduly burdensome and the extent to which compliance will so
10burden the operations of the public body. Such a response shall
11be treated as a denial of the request for information.
12    Repeated requests from the same person for the same records
13that are unchanged or identical to records previously provided
14or properly denied under this Act shall be deemed unduly
15burdensome under this provision.
16    (h) Each public body may promulgate rules and regulations
17in conformity with the provisions of this Section pertaining to
18the availability of records and procedures to be followed,
19including:
20        (i) the times and places where such records will be
21    made available, and
22        (ii) the persons from whom such records may be
23    obtained.
24    (i) The time periods for compliance or denial of a request
25to inspect or copy records set out in this Section shall not
26apply to requests for records made for a commercial purpose.

 

 

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1Such requests shall be subject to the provisions of Section 3.1
2of this Act.
3(Source: P.A. 96-542, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
4    (5 ILCS 140/9)  (from Ch. 116, par. 209)
5    Sec. 9. (a) Each public body denying a request for public
6records shall notify the requester in writing or, if the
7request was made by electronic mail, by electronic mail of the
8decision to deny the request, the reasons for the denial,
9including a detailed factual basis for the application of any
10exemption claimed, and the names and titles or positions of
11each person responsible for the denial. Each notice of denial
12by a public body shall also inform such person of the right to
13review by the Public Access Counselor and provide the address
14and phone number for the Public Access Counselor. Each notice
15of denial shall inform such person of his right to judicial
16review under Section 11 of this Act.
17    (b) When a request for public records is denied on the
18grounds that the records are exempt under Section 7 of this
19Act, the notice of denial shall specify the exemption claimed
20to authorize the denial and the specific reasons for the
21denial, including a detailed factual basis and a citation to
22supporting legal authority. Copies of all notices of denial
23shall be retained by each public body in a single central
24office file that is open to the public and indexed according to
25the type of exemption asserted and, to the extent feasible,

 

 

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1according to the types of records requested.
2    (c) Any person making a request for public records shall be
3deemed to have exhausted his or her administrative remedies
4with respect to that request if the public body fails to act
5within the time periods provided in Section 3 of this Act.
6(Source: P.A. 96-542, eff. 1-1-10.)