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91_SB1197
LRB9100914JMkbA
1 AN ACT to amend the Freedom of Information Act by
2 changing Section 6.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
6 changing Section 6 as follows:
7 (5 ILCS 140/6) (from Ch. 116, par. 206)
8 Sec. 6. Authority to charge fees.
9 (a) Each public body may charge (i) reasonable fees for
10 searching and retrieving public records, (ii) fees reasonably
11 calculated to reimburse its actual cost for reproducing and
12 certifying public records, and (iii) fees reasonably
13 calculated to reimburse its actual cost for the use, by any
14 person, of the equipment of the public body to copy records.
15 Such fees shall exclude the costs of any search for and
16 review of the record, and shall not exceed the actual cost of
17 reproduction and certification, unless otherwise provided by
18 State statute. Such fees shall be imposed according to a
19 standard scale of fees, established and made public by the
20 body imposing them. The public body may require a deposit of
21 up to 25% of the estimated cost of searching, retrieving,
22 reproducing, and certifying the requested records.
23 (b) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a
24 reduced charge, as determined by the public body, if the
25 person requesting the documents states the specific purpose
26 for the request and indicates that a waiver or reduction of
27 the fee is in the public interest. Waiver or reduction of
28 the fee is in the public interest if the principal purpose of
29 the request is to access and disseminate information
30 regarding the health, safety and welfare or the legal rights
31 of the general public and is not for the principal purpose of
-2- LRB9100914JMkbA
1 personal or commercial benefit. For purposes of this
2 subsection, "commercial benefit" shall not apply to requests
3 made by news media when the principal purpose of the request
4 is to access and disseminate information regarding the
5 health, safety, and welfare or the legal rights of the
6 general public. In setting the amount of the waiver or
7 reduction, the public body may take into consideration the
8 amount of materials requested and the cost of copying them.
9 (c) The purposeful imposition of a fee not consistent
10 with subsections (6)(a) and (b) of this Act shall be
11 considered a denial of access to public records for the
12 purposes of judicial review.
13 (d) The fee for an abstract of a driver's record shall
14 be as provided in Section 6-118 of "The Illinois Vehicle
15 Code", approved September 29, 1969, as amended.
16 (Source: P.A. 90-144, eff. 7-23-97.)