102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB3439

 

Introduced 2/22/2021, by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray

 

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

    Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that the person making a request and the public body may agree in writing to extend the time for compliance only after the public body has reviewed the request, determined that an extension is necessary, and notified the person making the request of the reasons for the extension and the date by which the response will be forthcoming. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

HB3439LRB102 15091 HEP 20446 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 Section 3 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 Sections 7 and 8.5 of this Act.
10Notwithstanding any other law, a public body may not grant to
11any person or entity, whether by contract, license, or
12otherwise, the exclusive right to access and disseminate any
13public record as defined 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
9or deny a request for public records within 5 business days
10after its receipt of the request, unless the time for response
11is properly extended under subsection (e) of this Section.
12Denial shall be in writing as provided in Section 9 of this
13Act. Failure to comply with a written request, extend the time
14for response, or deny a request within 5 business days after
15its receipt shall be considered a denial of the request. A
16public body that fails to respond to a request within the
17requisite periods in this Section but thereafter provides the
18requester with copies of the requested public records may not
19impose a fee for such copies. A public body that fails to
20respond to a request received may not treat the request as
21unduly burdensome under subsection (g).
22    (e) The time for response under this Section may be
23extended by the public body for not more than 5 business days
24from the original due date for any of the following reasons:
25        (i) the requested records are stored in whole or in
26    part at other locations than the office having charge of

 

 

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1    the requested records;
2        (ii) the request requires the collection of a
3    substantial number of specified records;
4        (iii) the request is couched in categorical terms and
5    requires an extensive search for the records responsive to
6    it;
7        (iv) the requested records have not been located in
8    the course of routine search and additional efforts are
9    being made to locate them;
10        (v) the requested records require examination and
11    evaluation by personnel having the necessary competence
12    and discretion to determine if they are exempt from
13    disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be
14    revealed only with appropriate deletions;
15        (vi) the request for records cannot be complied with
16    by the public body within the time limits prescribed by
17    subsection (d) of this Section without unduly burdening or
18    interfering with the operations of the public body;
19        (vii) there is a need for consultation, which shall be
20    conducted with all practicable speed, with another public
21    body or among 2 or more components of a public body having
22    a substantial interest in the determination or in the
23    subject matter of the request.
24    The person making a request and the public body may agree
25in writing to extend the time for compliance for a period to be
26determined by the parties only after the public body has

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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13.1, 3.2, and 3.6 of this Act, as applicable.
2(Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4becoming law.