HB4583 EngrossedLRB100 18041 RJF 33230 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
5Sections 2.02, 2.06, and 3 as follows:
 
6    (5 ILCS 120/2.02)  (from Ch. 102, par. 42.02)
7    Sec. 2.02. Public notice of all meetings, whether open or
8closed to the public, shall be given as follows:
9    (a) Every public body shall give public notice of the
10schedule of regular meetings at the beginning of each calendar
11or fiscal year and shall state the regular dates, times, and
12places of such meetings. An agenda for each regular or special
13meeting shall be posted at the principal office of the public
14body and at the location where the meeting is to be held at
15least 48 hours in advance of the holding of the meeting. A
16public body that has a website that the full-time staff of the
17public body maintains shall also post on its website the agenda
18of any regular or special meetings of the governing body and of
19all subsidiary bodies of that public body. Any agenda of a
20regular or special meeting that is posted on a public body's
21website shall remain posted on the website until the regular or
22special meeting is concluded. The requirement of a regular
23meeting agenda shall not preclude the consideration of items

 

 

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1not specifically set forth in the agenda. Public notice of any
2special meeting except a meeting held in the event of a bona
3fide emergency, or of any rescheduled regular meeting, or of
4any reconvened meeting, shall be given at least 48 hours before
5such meeting, which notice shall also include the agenda for
6the special, rescheduled, or reconvened meeting, but the
7validity of any action taken by the public body which is
8germane to a subject on the agenda shall not be affected by
9other errors or omissions in the agenda. The requirement of
10public notice of reconvened meetings does not apply to any case
11where the meeting was open to the public and (1) it is to be
12reconvened within 24 hours, or (2) an announcement of the time
13and place of the reconvened meeting was made at the original
14meeting and there is no change in the agenda. Notice of an
15emergency meeting shall be given as soon as practicable, but in
16any event prior to the holding of such meeting, to any news
17medium which has filed an annual request for notice under
18subsection (b) of this Section.
19    (b) Public notice shall be given by posting a copy of the
20notice at the principal office of the body holding the meeting
21or, if no such office exists, at the building in which the
22meeting is to be held. In addition, a public body that has a
23website that the full-time staff of the public body maintains
24shall post notice on its website of all meetings of the
25governing body and of all subsidiary bodies of the public body.
26Any notice of an annual schedule of meetings shall remain on

 

 

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1the website until a new public notice of the schedule of
2regular meetings is approved. Any notice of a regular or
3special meeting that is posted on a public body's website shall
4remain posted on the website until the regular or special
5meeting is concluded. The body shall supply copies of the
6notice of its regular meetings, and of the notice of any
7special, emergency, rescheduled or reconvened meeting, to any
8news medium that has filed an annual request for such notice.
9Any such news medium shall also be given the same notice of all
10special, emergency, rescheduled or reconvened meetings in the
11same manner as is given to members of the body provided such
12news medium has given the public body an address or telephone
13number within the territorial jurisdiction of the public body
14at which such notice may be given. The failure of a public body
15to post on its website notice of any meeting or the agenda of
16any meeting shall not invalidate any meeting or any actions
17taken at a meeting, unless the failure was the result of bad
18faith on the part of the public body.
19    (c) Any agenda required under this Section shall set forth
20the general subject matter of any resolution or ordinance that
21will be the subject of final action at the meeting. The public
22body conducting a public meeting shall ensure that at least one
23copy of any requested notice and agenda for the meeting is
24continuously available for public review during the entire
2548-hour period preceding the meeting. Posting of the notice and
26agenda on a website that is maintained by the public body

 

 

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1satisfies the requirement for continuous posting under this
2subsection (c). If a notice or agenda is not continuously
3available for the full 48-hour period due to actions outside of
4the control of the public body, then that lack of availability
5does not invalidate any meeting or action taken at a meeting.
6(Source: P.A. 97-827, eff. 1-1-13.)
 
7    (5 ILCS 120/2.06)  (from Ch. 102, par. 42.06)
8    Sec. 2.06. Minutes; right to speak.
9    (a) All public bodies shall keep written minutes of all
10their meetings, whether open or closed, and a verbatim record
11of all their closed meetings in the form of an audio or video
12recording. Minutes shall include, but need not be limited to:
13        (1) the date, time and place of the meeting;
14        (2) the members of the public body recorded as either
15    present or absent and whether the members were physically
16    present or present by means of video or audio conference;
17    and
18        (3) a summary of discussion on all matters proposed,
19    deliberated, or decided, and a record of any votes taken.
20    (b) A public body shall approve the minutes of its open
21meeting within 30 days after that meeting or at the public
22body's second subsequent regular meeting, whichever is later.
23The minutes of meetings open to the public shall be available
24for public inspection within 10 days after the approval of such
25minutes by the public body. Beginning July 1, 2006, at the time

 

 

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1it complies with the other requirements of this subsection, a
2public body that has a website that the full-time staff of the
3public body maintains shall post the minutes of a regular,
4special, or emergency meeting of its governing body open to the
5public on the public body's website within 10 days after the
6approval of the minutes by the public body. Beginning July 1,
72006, any minutes of meetings open to the public posted on the
8public body's website shall remain posted on the website for at
9least 60 days after their initial posting.
10    (c) The verbatim record may be destroyed without
11notification to or the approval of a records commission or the
12State Archivist under the Local Records Act or the State
13Records Act no less than 18 months after the completion of the
14meeting recorded but only after:
15        (1) the public body approves the destruction of a
16    particular recording; and
17        (2) the public body approves minutes of the closed
18    meeting that meet the written minutes requirements of
19    subsection (a) of this Section.
20    (d) Each public body shall periodically, but no less than
21semi-annually, meet to review minutes of all closed meetings.
22At such meetings a determination shall be made, and reported in
23an open session that (1) the need for confidentiality still
24exists as to all or part of those minutes or (2) that the
25minutes or portions thereof no longer require confidential
26treatment and are available for public inspection. The failure

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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1of an individual by keeping them confidential, except that duly
2elected officials or appointed officials filling a vacancy of
3an elected office in a public body shall be provided access to
4minutes of meetings closed to the public. Access to minutes
5shall be granted in the public body's main office or official
6storage location, in the presence of a records secretary, an
7administrative official of the public body, or any elected
8official of the public body. No minutes of meetings closed to
9the public shall be removed from the public body's main office
10or official storage location, except by vote of the public body
11or by court order. Nothing in this subsection (f) is intended
12to limit the Public Access Counselor's access to those records
13necessary to address a request for administrative review under
14Section 7.5 of this Act.
15    (g) Any person shall be permitted an opportunity to address
16public officials under the rules established and recorded by
17the public body.
18(Source: P.A. 99-515, eff. 6-30-16.)
 
19    (5 ILCS 120/3)  (from Ch. 102, par. 43)
20    Sec. 3. (a) Where the provisions of this Act are not
21complied with, or where there is probable cause to believe that
22the provisions of this Act will not be complied with, any
23person, including the State's Attorney of the county in which
24such noncompliance may occur, may bring a civil action in the
25circuit court for the judicial circuit in which the alleged

 

 

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

 

 

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1available to the public such portion of the minutes of a
2meeting as is not authorized to be kept confidential under this
3Act, or declaring null and void any final action taken at a
4closed meeting in violation of this Act.
5    (d) The court shall may assess against any party, except a
6State's Attorney, reasonable attorney's fees and other
7litigation costs reasonably incurred by any other party who
8substantially prevails in any action brought in accordance with
9this Section, provided that costs may be assessed against any
10private party or parties bringing an action pursuant to this
11Section only upon the court's determination that the action is
12malicious or frivolous in nature. In determining what amount of
13attorney's fees is reasonable, the court shall consider the
14degree to which the relief obtained relates to the relief
15sought.
16(Source: P.A. 99-714, eff. 8-5-16.)