HB5683 EnrolledLRB099 20544 RJF 45093 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 Open Meetings Act is amended by changing
5Section 3 as follows:
 
6    (5 ILCS 120/3)  (from Ch. 102, par. 43)
7    Sec. 3. (a) Where the provisions of this Act are not
8complied with, or where there is probable cause to believe that
9the provisions of this Act will not be complied with, any
10person, including the State's Attorney of the county in which
11such noncompliance may occur, may bring a civil action in the
12circuit court for the judicial circuit in which the alleged
13noncompliance has occurred or is about to occur, or in which
14the affected public body has its principal office, prior to or
15within 60 days of the meeting alleged to be in violation of
16this Act or, if facts concerning the meeting are not discovered
17within the 60-day period, within 60 days of the discovery of a
18violation by the State's Attorney or, if the person timely
19files a request for review under Section 3.5, within 60 days of
20the decision by the Attorney General to resolve a request for
21review by a means other than the issuance of a binding opinion
22under subsection (e) of Section 3.5.
23    Records that are obtained by a State's Attorney from a

 

 

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1public body for purposes of reviewing whether the public body
2has complied with this Act may not be disclosed to the public.
3Those records, while in the possession of the State's Attorney,
4are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information
5Act.
6    (b) In deciding such a case the court may examine in camera
7any portion of the minutes of a meeting at which a violation of
8the Act is alleged to have occurred, and may take such
9additional evidence as it deems necessary.
10    (c) The court, having due regard for orderly administration
11and the public interest, as well as for the interests of the
12parties, may grant such relief as it deems appropriate,
13including granting a relief by mandamus requiring that a
14meeting be open to the public, granting an injunction against
15future violations of this Act, ordering the public body to make
16available to the public such portion of the minutes of a
17meeting as is not authorized to be kept confidential under this
18Act, or declaring null and void any final action taken at a
19closed meeting in violation of this Act.
20    (d) The court may assess against any party, except a
21State's Attorney, reasonable attorney's fees and other
22litigation costs reasonably incurred by any other party who
23substantially prevails in any action brought in accordance with
24this Section, provided that costs may be assessed against any
25private party or parties bringing an action pursuant to this
26Section only upon the court's determination that the action is

 

 

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1malicious or frivolous in nature.
2(Source: P.A. 96-542, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4becoming law.