100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB3326

 

Introduced , by Rep. Jeanne M Ives

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
5 ILCS 120/2.06  from Ch. 102, par. 42.06
5 ILCS 120/3  from Ch. 102, par. 43

    Amends the Open Meetings Act. Specifies that at each regular or special meeting which is open to the public, any person shall have the opportunity to address public officials with comments or questions, subject to reasonable constraints. Provides that any answers to questions asked during the open meeting shall be provided by the public body within 45 days. Provides that if a court determines that a public body willfully and intentionally failed to comply with the Act, or otherwise acted in bad faith, the court shall, in addition to any other relief authorized, also impose upon the public body a civil penalty of not less than $2,500, but no more than $5,000, for each violation. Provides that the court shall (currently, may) assess against any party, except a State's Attorney, reasonable attorney's fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred by any other party who prevails (currently, substantially prevails) in an action brought under the Act.


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A BILL FOR

 

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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
5Sections 2.06 and 3 as follows:
 
6    (5 ILCS 120/2.06)  (from Ch. 102, par. 42.06)
7    Sec. 2.06. Minutes; right to speak.
8    (a) All public bodies shall keep written minutes of all
9their meetings, whether open or closed, and a verbatim record
10of all their closed meetings in the form of an audio or video
11recording. Minutes shall include, but need not be limited to:
12        (1) the date, time and place of the meeting;
13        (2) the members of the public body recorded as either
14    present or absent and whether the members were physically
15    present or present by means of video or audio conference;
16    and
17        (3) a summary of discussion on all matters proposed,
18    deliberated, or decided, and a record of any votes taken.
19    (b) A public body shall approve the minutes of its open
20meeting within 30 days after that meeting or at the public
21body's second subsequent regular meeting, whichever is later.
22The minutes of meetings open to the public shall be available
23for public inspection within 10 days after the approval of such

 

 

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1minutes by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, at the time
2it complies with the other requirements of this subsection, a
3public body that has a website that the full-time staff of the
4public body maintains shall post the minutes of a regular
5meeting of its governing body open to the public on the public
6body's website within 10 days after the approval of the minutes
7by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, any minutes of
8meetings open to the public posted on the public body's website
9shall remain posted on the website for at least 60 days after
10their initial posting.
11    (c) The verbatim record may be destroyed without
12notification to or the approval of a records commission or the
13State Archivist under the Local Records Act or the State
14Records Act no less than 18 months after the completion of the
15meeting recorded but only after:
16        (1) the public body approves the destruction of a
17    particular recording; and
18        (2) the public body approves minutes of the closed
19    meeting that meet the written minutes requirements of
20    subsection (a) of this Section.
21    (d) Each public body shall periodically, but no less than
22semi-annually, meet to review minutes of all closed meetings.
23At such meetings a determination shall be made, and reported in
24an open session that (1) the need for confidentiality still
25exists as to all or part of those minutes or (2) that the
26minutes or portions thereof no longer require confidential

 

 

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1treatment and are available for public inspection. The failure
2of a public body to strictly comply with the semi-annual review
3of closed session written minutes, whether before or after the
4effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General
5Assembly, shall not cause the written minutes or related
6verbatim record to become public or available for inspection in
7any judicial proceeding, other than a proceeding involving an
8alleged violation of this Act, if the public body, within 60
9days of discovering its failure to strictly comply with the
10technical requirements of this subsection, reviews the closed
11session minutes and determines and thereafter reports in open
12session that either (1) the need for confidentiality still
13exists as to all or part of the minutes or verbatim record, or
14(2) that the minutes or recordings or portions thereof no
15longer require confidential treatment and are available for
16public inspection.
17    (e) Unless the public body has made a determination that
18the verbatim recording no longer requires confidential
19treatment or otherwise consents to disclosure, the verbatim
20record of a meeting closed to the public shall not be open for
21public inspection or subject to discovery in any administrative
22or judicial proceeding other than one brought to enforce this
23Act. In the case of a civil action brought to enforce this Act,
24the court, if the judge believes such an examination is
25necessary, must conduct such in camera examination of the
26verbatim record as it finds appropriate in order to determine

 

 

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1whether there has been a violation of this Act. In the case of
2a criminal proceeding, the court may conduct an examination in
3order to determine what portions, if any, must be made
4available to the parties for use as evidence in the
5prosecution. Any such initial inspection must be held in
6camera. If the court determines that a complaint or suit
7brought for noncompliance under this Act is valid it may, for
8the purposes of discovery, redact from the minutes of the
9meeting closed to the public any information deemed to qualify
10under the attorney-client privilege. The provisions of this
11subsection do not supersede the privacy or confidentiality
12provisions of State or federal law. Access to verbatim
13recordings shall be provided to duly elected officials or
14appointed officials filling a vacancy of an elected office in a
15public body, and access shall be granted in the public body's
16main office or official storage location, in the presence of a
17records secretary, an administrative official of the public
18body, or any elected official of the public body. No verbatim
19recordings shall be recorded or removed from the public body's
20main office or official storage location, except by vote of the
21public body or by court order. Nothing in this subsection (e)
22is intended to limit the Public Access Counselor's access to
23those records necessary to address a request for administrative
24review under Section 7.5 of this Act.
25    (f) Minutes of meetings closed to the public shall be
26available only after the public body determines that it is no

 

 

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1longer necessary to protect the public interest or the privacy
2of an individual by keeping them confidential, except that duly
3elected officials or appointed officials filling a vacancy of
4an elected office in a public body shall be provided access to
5minutes of meetings closed to the public. Access to minutes
6shall be granted in the public body's main office or official
7storage location, in the presence of a records secretary, an
8administrative official of the public body, or any elected
9official of the public body. No minutes of meetings closed to
10the public shall be removed from the public body's main office
11or official storage location, except by vote of the public body
12or by court order. Nothing in this subsection (f) is intended
13to limit the Public Access Counselor's access to those records
14necessary to address a request for administrative review under
15Section 7.5 of this Act.
16    (g) At each regular or special meeting which is open to the
17public, any Any person shall be permitted an opportunity to
18address public officials with comments or questions, subject to
19reasonable constraints, under the rules established and
20recorded by the public body. Answers to the questions asked
21during the meeting shall be provided by the public body within
2245 days.
23(Source: P.A. 99-515, eff. 6-30-16.)
 
24    (5 ILCS 120/3)  (from Ch. 102, par. 43)
25    Sec. 3. (a) Where the provisions of this Act are not

 

 

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1complied with, or where there is probable cause to believe that
2the provisions of this Act will not be complied with, any
3person, including the State's Attorney of the county in which
4such noncompliance may occur, may bring a civil action in the
5circuit court for the judicial circuit in which the alleged
6noncompliance has occurred or is about to occur, or in which
7the affected public body has its principal office, prior to or
8within 60 days of the meeting alleged to be in violation of
9this Act or, if facts concerning the meeting are not discovered
10within the 60-day period, within 60 days of the discovery of a
11violation by the State's Attorney or, if the person timely
12files a request for review under Section 3.5, within 60 days of
13the decision by the Attorney General to resolve a request for
14review by a means other than the issuance of a binding opinion
15under subsection (e) of Section 3.5.
16    Records that are obtained by a State's Attorney from a
17public body for purposes of reviewing whether the public body
18has complied with this Act may not be disclosed to the public.
19Those records, while in the possession of the State's Attorney,
20are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information
21Act.
22    (b) In deciding such a case the court may examine in camera
23any portion of the minutes of a meeting at which a violation of
24the Act is alleged to have occurred, and may take such
25additional evidence as it deems necessary.
26    (c) The court, having due regard for orderly administration

 

 

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1and the public interest, as well as for the interests of the
2parties, may grant such relief as it deems appropriate,
3including granting a relief by mandamus requiring that a
4meeting be open to the public, granting an injunction against
5future violations of this Act, ordering the public body to make
6available to the public such portion of the minutes of a
7meeting as is not authorized to be kept confidential under this
8Act, or declaring null and void any final action taken at a
9closed meeting in violation of this Act. If the court
10determines that a public body willfully and intentionally
11failed to comply with this Act, or otherwise acted in bad
12faith, the court shall, in addition to any relief authorized
13under this Section, also impose upon the public body a civil
14penalty of not less than $2,500, but no more than $5,000, for
15each violation.
16    (d) The court shall may assess against any party, except a
17State's Attorney, reasonable attorney's fees and other
18litigation costs reasonably incurred by any other party who
19substantially prevails in any action brought in accordance with
20this Section, provided that costs may be assessed against any
21private party or parties bringing an action pursuant to this
22Section only upon the court's determination that the action is
23malicious or frivolous in nature.
24(Source: P.A. 99-714, eff. 8-5-16.)