HB7323 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB093 23257 JAM 53232 b

93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB7323

Introduced 8/24/2004, by Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

5 ILCS 140/6

from Ch. 116, par. 206

Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Unless otherwise provided by law, sets the maximum fee a public body may charge for copying and certifying records at 10 cents per page. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning freedom of information.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by changing Section 6 as follows:

(5 ILCS 140/6) (from Ch. 116, par. 206)

Sec. 6. Authority to charge fees.

(a) Each public body may charge fees reasonably calculated to reimburse its actual cost for reproducing and certifying public records and for the use, by any person, of the equipment of the public body to copy records. Such fees shall exclude the costs of any search for and review of the record, and shall not exceed the lesser of 10 cents per page or the actual cost of reproduction and certification, unless otherwise provided by State statute. Such fees shall be imposed according to a standard scale of fees, established and made public by the body imposing them.

(b) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge, as determined by the public body, if the person requesting the documents states the specific purpose for the request and indicates that a waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest. Waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest if the principal purpose of the request is to access and disseminate information regarding the health, safety and welfare or the legal rights of the general public and is not for the principal purpose of personal or commercial benefit. For purposes of this subsection, "commercial benefit" shall not apply to requests made by news media when the principal purpose of the request is to access and disseminate information regarding the health, safety, and welfare or the legal rights of the general public. In setting the amount of the waiver or reduction, the public body may take into consideration the amount of materials requested and the cost of copying them.

(c) The purposeful imposition of a fee not consistent with subsections (6)(a) and (b) of this Act shall be considered a denial of access to public records for the purposes of judicial review.

(d) The fee for an abstract of a driver's record shall be as provided in Section 6-118 of "The Illinois Vehicle Code", approved September 29, 1969, as amended.

(Source: P.A. 90-144, eff. 7-23-97.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.