Full Text of HB5020 101st General Assembly
HB5020 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020 HB5020 Introduced 2/18/2020, by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
|
5 ILCS 140/6 | from Ch. 116, par. 206 |
|
Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that a public body shall take all reasonable steps to provide records in a format that is readable by the requester, including, but not limited to, making the record available in any format that is available to the public body and requested by the requester. Effective immediately.
|
| |
| | A BILL FOR |
|
| | | HB5020 | | LRB101 19434 HEP 68906 b |
|
| 1 | | AN ACT concerning government.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 6 as follows:
| 6 | | (5 ILCS 140/6) (from Ch. 116, par. 206)
| 7 | | Sec. 6. Authority to charge fees.
| 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. The | 11 | | public body shall take all reasonable steps to provide records | 12 | | in a format that is readable by the requester, including, but | 13 | | not limited to, making the record available in any format that | 14 | | is available to the public body and requested by the requester. | 15 | | If it is not feasible to furnish the public records in the | 16 | | specified electronic format, then the public body shall furnish | 17 | | it in the format in which it is maintained by the public body, | 18 | | or in paper format at the option of the requester. A public | 19 | | body may charge the requester for the actual cost of purchasing | 20 | | the recording medium, whether disc, diskette, tape, or other | 21 | | medium. If a request is not a request for a commercial purpose | 22 | | or a voluminous request, a public body may not charge the | 23 | | requester for the costs of any search for and review of the |
| | | HB5020 | - 2 - | LRB101 19434 HEP 68906 b |
|
| 1 | | records or other personnel costs associated with reproducing | 2 | | the records. Except to the extent that the General Assembly | 3 | | expressly provides, statutory fees applicable to copies of | 4 | | public records when furnished in a paper format shall not be | 5 | | applicable to those records when furnished in an electronic | 6 | | format. | 7 | | (a-5) If a voluminous request is for electronic records and | 8 | | those records are not in a portable document format (PDF), the | 9 | | public body may charge up to $20 for not more than 2 megabytes | 10 | | of data, up to $40 for more than 2 but not more than 4 megabytes | 11 | | of data, and up to $100 for more than 4 megabytes of data. If a | 12 | | voluminous request is for electronic records and those records | 13 | | are in a portable document format, the public body may charge | 14 | | up to $20 for not more than 80 megabytes of data, up to $40 for | 15 | | more than 80 megabytes but not more than 160 megabytes of data, | 16 | | and up to $100 for more than 160 megabytes of data. If the | 17 | | responsive electronic records are in both a portable document | 18 | | format and not in a portable document format, the public body | 19 | | may separate the fees and charge the requester under both fee | 20 | | scales. | 21 | | If a public body imposes a fee pursuant to this subsection | 22 | | (a-5), it must provide the requester with an accounting of all | 23 | | fees, costs, and personnel hours in connection with the request | 24 | | for public records. | 25 | | (b) Except when a fee is otherwise fixed by statute, each | 26 | | public body may charge fees
reasonably
calculated to
reimburse
|
| | | HB5020 | - 3 - | LRB101 19434 HEP 68906 b |
|
| 1 | | its actual cost for reproducing and certifying public records | 2 | | and for the
use, by any person, of the equipment of the public | 3 | | body to copy records. No fees shall be charged for the first 50 | 4 | | pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies | 5 | | requested by a requester. The fee for black and white, letter | 6 | | or legal sized copies shall not exceed 15 cents per page. If a | 7 | | public body provides copies in color or in a size other than | 8 | | letter or legal, the public body may not charge more than its | 9 | | actual cost for reproducing the records.
In calculating its | 10 | | actual cost for reproducing records or for the use of the | 11 | | equipment of the public body to reproduce records, a public | 12 | | body shall not include the costs of any search for and review | 13 | | of the records or other personnel costs associated with | 14 | | reproducing the records, except for commercial requests as | 15 | | provided in subsection (f) of this Section. Such fees shall be | 16 | | imposed
according to a standard scale of fees, established and | 17 | | made public by the
body imposing them. The cost for certifying | 18 | | a record shall not exceed $1.
| 19 | | (c) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a | 20 | | reduced
charge, as determined by the public body, if the person | 21 | | requesting the
documents states the specific purpose for the | 22 | | request and indicates that a
waiver or reduction of the fee is | 23 | | in the public interest. Waiver or
reduction of the fee is in | 24 | | the public interest if the principal purpose of
the request is | 25 | | to access and disseminate information regarding the health,
| 26 | | safety and welfare or the legal rights of the general public |
| | | HB5020 | - 4 - | LRB101 19434 HEP 68906 b |
|
| 1 | | and is not for
the principal purpose of personal or commercial | 2 | | benefit.
For purposes of this subsection, "commercial benefit" | 3 | | shall not apply to
requests
made by news media when the | 4 | | principal purpose of the request is to access and
disseminate | 5 | | information regarding the health, safety, and welfare or the | 6 | | legal
rights of the general public.
In setting the
amount of | 7 | | the waiver or reduction, the public body may take into
| 8 | | consideration the amount of materials requested and the cost of | 9 | | copying
them.
| 10 | | (d) The imposition of a fee not consistent with subsections
| 11 | | (6)(a) and (b) of this Act constitutes a denial of access to | 12 | | public
records for the purposes of judicial review.
| 13 | | (e) The fee for each abstract of a driver's record shall be | 14 | | as provided
in Section 6-118 of "The Illinois Vehicle Code", | 15 | | approved September 29,
1969, as amended, whether furnished as a | 16 | | paper copy or as an electronic copy.
| 17 | | (f) A public body may charge up to $10 for each hour spent | 18 | | by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested record | 19 | | or examining the record for necessary redactions. No fees shall | 20 | | be charged for the first 8 hours spent by personnel in | 21 | | searching for or retrieving a requested record. A public body | 22 | | may charge the actual cost of retrieving and transporting | 23 | | public records from an off-site storage facility when the | 24 | | public records are maintained by a third-party storage company | 25 | | under contract with the public body. If a public body imposes a | 26 | | fee pursuant to this subsection (f), it must provide the |
| | | HB5020 | - 5 - | LRB101 19434 HEP 68906 b |
|
| 1 | | requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel | 2 | | hours in connection with the request for public records. The | 3 | | provisions of this subsection (f) apply only to commercial | 4 | | requests. | 5 | | (Source: P.A. 97-579, eff. 8-26-11; 98-1129, eff. 12-3-14.)
| 6 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 7 | | becoming law.
|
|