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| 1 | AN ACT concerning government.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | changing Section 6 as follows:
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| 6 | (5 ILCS 140/6) (from Ch. 116, par. 206)
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| 7 | Sec. 6. Authority to charge fees.
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| 8 | (a) When a person requests a copy of a record maintained in | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | an electronic format, the public body shall furnish it in the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | electronic format specified by the requester, if feasible. If | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | it is not feasible to furnish the public records in the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | specified electronic format, then the public body shall furnish | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | it in the format in which it is maintained by the public body, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | or in paper format at the option of the requester. A public | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | body may charge the requester for the actual cost of purchasing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | the recording medium, whether disc, diskette, tape, or other | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | medium. In addition, a public body may charge the actual cost | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | of retrieving and transporting public records from an off-site | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | storage facility when the public records are maintained by a | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | third-party storage company under contract with the public | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | body. A public body may not charge the requester for the costs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22 | of any search for and review of the records or other personnel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | costs associated with reproducing the records. Except to the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1 | extent that the General Assembly expressly provides, statutory | ||||||
| 2 | fees applicable to copies of public records when furnished in a | ||||||
| 3 | paper format shall not be applicable to those records when | ||||||
| 4 | furnished in an electronic format. | ||||||
| 5 | (b) Except when a fee is otherwise fixed by statute, each | ||||||
| 6 | public body may charge fees
reasonably
calculated to
reimburse
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| 7 | its actual cost for reproducing and certifying public records | ||||||
| 8 | and for the
use, by any person, of the equipment of the public | ||||||
| 9 | body to copy records. No fees shall be charged for the first 50 | ||||||
| 10 | pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies | ||||||
| 11 | requested by a requester. The fee for black and white, letter | ||||||
| 12 | or legal sized copies shall not exceed 15 cents per page. If a | ||||||
| 13 | public body provides copies in color or in a size other than | ||||||
| 14 | letter or legal, the public body may not charge more than its | ||||||
| 15 | actual cost for reproducing the records.
In calculating its | ||||||
| 16 | actual cost for reproducing records or for the use of the | ||||||
| 17 | equipment of the public body to reproduce records, a public | ||||||
| 18 | body shall not include the costs of any search for and review | ||||||
| 19 | of the records or other personnel costs associated with | ||||||
| 20 | reproducing the records. Such fees shall be imposed
according | ||||||
| 21 | to a standard scale of fees, established and made public by the
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| 22 | body imposing them. The cost for certifying a record shall not | ||||||
| 23 | exceed $1.
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| 24 | (c) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a | ||||||
| 25 | reduced
charge, as determined by the public body, if the person | ||||||
| 26 | requesting the
documents states the specific purpose for the | ||||||
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| 1 | request and indicates that a
waiver or reduction of the fee is | ||||||
| 2 | in the public interest. Waiver or
reduction of the fee is in | ||||||
| 3 | the public interest if the principal purpose of
the request is | ||||||
| 4 | to access and disseminate information regarding the health,
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| 5 | safety and welfare or the legal rights of the general public | ||||||
| 6 | and is not for
the principal purpose of personal or commercial | ||||||
| 7 | benefit.
For purposes of this subsection, "commercial benefit" | ||||||
| 8 | shall not apply to
requests
made by news media when the | ||||||
| 9 | principal purpose of the request is to access and
disseminate | ||||||
| 10 | information regarding the health, safety, and welfare or the | ||||||
| 11 | legal
rights of the general public.
In setting the
amount of | ||||||
| 12 | the waiver or reduction, the public body may take into
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| 13 | consideration the amount of materials requested and the cost of | ||||||
| 14 | copying
them.
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| 15 | (d) The imposition of a fee not consistent with subsections
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| 16 | (6)(a) and (b) of this Act constitutes a denial of access to | ||||||
| 17 | public
records for the purposes of judicial review.
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| 18 | (e) The fee for each abstract of a driver's record shall be | ||||||
| 19 | as provided
in Section 6-118 of "The Illinois Vehicle Code", | ||||||
| 20 | approved September 29,
1969, as amended, whether furnished as a | ||||||
| 21 | paper copy or as an electronic copy.
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| 22 | (Source: P.A. 96-542, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)
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| 23 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
| 24 | becoming law.
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