97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB1869

 

Introduced , by Rep. Frank J. Mautino

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
715 ILCS 5/5.1 new

    Amends the Notice By Publication Act. Provides that notwithstanding any other law, if a statute requires a unit of local government or school district to publish a public notice in a newspaper then, at its discretion, the unit of local government or school district may satisfy that requirement by publishing the public notice on its own website, accessible to the general public, for the same time periods applicable to the newspaper publication. Provides that if a public notice is published on a website in this manner, then the unit of local government or school district must publish a notification of the website publication in a newspaper which states the website notice is available, the accurate website address of the unit of local government or school district, and a location where print versions of the item published are available. Provides that a unit of local government or school district must maintain accurate records of the content and duration of each website publication for public inspection. Provides that a public notice published on a website is not invalidated if the website becomes temporarily unavailable due to technical reasons provided that the public notice is available to the general public for at least 75% of the time that the public notice is required to be available. Defines terms. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB1869LRB097 09260 AJO 50815 b

1    AN ACT concerning notices.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Notice By Publication Act is amended by
5adding Section 5.1 as follows:
 
6    (715 ILCS 5/5.1 new)
7    Sec. 5.1. Public notice by website.
8    (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if any
9statute requires a unit of local government or school district
10to publish a public notice in any newspaper, then, at the
11discretion of the unit of local government or school district,
12that publication requirement may be satisfied by publishing the
13public notice on a website that is maintained by the unit of
14local government or school district. The public notice must be
15published on a portion of the website that is readily
16accessible to the general public. The public notice must be
17available for viewing for the same time periods that apply to
18the newspaper publication.
19    (b) If a unit of local government or school district
20publishes a public notice on its website, then it must publish
21a notification of the website publication in a newspaper as
22described in Section 5. The newspaper notification must contain
23a statement that the website public notice is available, the

 

 

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1complete and accurate website address of the unit of local
2government or school district, and a listing of the address and
3location where print versions of the public notice are
4available.
5    (c) If the unit of local government or school district
6publishes a public notice on a website under this Section, then
7it must maintain an accurate record of the content and duration
8of each website publication. The record must be available for
9inspection to the general public to determine whether the
10public notice requirements have been satisfied.
11    (d) If the unit of local government or school district
12publishes a public notice on a website under this Section, it
13must maintain a paper list of all public notices that are
14published on the website and maintain paper copies of each
15public notice that is currently published on the website. The
16list and copies of the public notices must be available for
17public inspection at the primary office of the unit of local
18government or school district.
19    (e) Any public notice published on a website under this
20Section is not invalidated if the website becomes temporarily
21unavailable due to technical reasons provided that the public
22notice is available to the general public for at least 75% of
23the time that the public notice is required to be available
24under subsection (a).
25    (f) For the purposes of this Section:
26    "Public notice" means any notice, account, report, or any

 

 

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1other record required by law to be published by the unit of
2local government or school district.
3    "Website that is maintained by the unit of local government
4or school district" means a website on which public notices
5must be posted under Section 2.02 of the Open Meetings Act.
 
6    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
7becoming law.