HB1765ham002 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Kambium Buckner

Filed: 4/20/2021

10200HB1765ham002 LRB102 03912 RLC 25665 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1765

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1765 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Empowering Public Participation Act.

Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Background check" means a criminal history check using the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS).

"Law enforcement agency" means an agency of the State or of a unit of local government charged with enforcement of State, county, or municipal laws or with managing custody of detained persons in the State.

"Open meeting" has the meaning provided in Section 2 of the Open Meetings Act.

"Public body" has the meaning provided in Section 1.02 of the Open Meetings Act, and also includes police disciplinary boards.

Section 10. Background checks on speakers prohibited.

(a) A law enforcement agency or an officer employed by a law enforcement agency may not knowingly and intentionally conduct a background check of a person for the sole reason of that person speaking at an open meeting of a public body, including police disciplinary boards.

(b) Subsection (a) does not apply whenever an agency or officer develops a reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct or a reasonable suspicion of a threat to security for the premises in which the meeting is to occur or for the protection of public officials and other persons attending the meeting.

Section 15. Penalty. A violation of subsection (a) of Section 10 is a Class C misdemeanor.

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