HB3515 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 12175 BDA 22277 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB3515

Introduced 2/18/2025, by Rep. Janet Yang Rohr

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

5 ILCS 140/2	from Ch. 116, par. 202
5 ILCS 140/6	from Ch. 116, par. 206
50 ILCS 706/10-20

Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that, for purposes of the Act, "commercial purpose" includes any use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interests of the requester or the person on whose behalf a request is made. Provides that, for purposes of the Act, "news media" does not include Internet sites, social media channels, or other sites or applications that post law enforcement videos in exchange for compensation based on the number of views. Provides that a public body may charge up to $40 for each hour spent by personnel in searching for, retrieving, reviewing, redacting, and reproducing audio and video records except for the first 8 hours spent by personnel in searching for or retrieving a requested record. Amends the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act. Provides that requests for a commercial purpose, as defined in the Freedom of Information Act, are not subject to provisions of the Act requiring the release of body-camera footage that has been flagged for specified reasons.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning government.

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 2 an 6 as follows:

(5 ILCS 140/2) (from Ch. 116, par. 202)

Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this Act:

(a) "Public body" means all legislative, executive, administrative, or advisory bodies of the State, state universities and colleges, counties, townships, cities, villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees, or commissions of this State, any subsidiary bodies of any of the foregoing including but not limited to committees and subcommittees thereof, and a School Finance Authority created under Article 1E of the School Code. "Public body" does not include a child death review team or the Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive Council established under the Child Death Review Team Act, or a regional youth advisory board or the Statewide Youth Advisory Board established under the Department of Children and Family Services Statewide Youth Advisory Board Act.

(b) "Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, organization or association, acting individually or as a group.

(c) "Public records" means all records, reports, forms, writings, letters, memoranda, books, papers, maps, photographs, microfilms, cards, tapes, recordings, electronic data processing records, electronic communications, recorded information and all other documentary materials pertaining to the transaction of public business, regardless of physical form or characteristics, having been prepared by or for, or having been or being used by, received by, in the possession of, or under the control of any public body.

(c-5) "Private information" means unique identifiers, including a person's social security number, driver's license number, employee identification number, biometric identifiers, personal financial information, passwords or other access codes, medical records, home or personal telephone numbers, and personal email addresses. Private information also includes home address and personal license plates, except as otherwise provided by law or when compiled without possibility of attribution to any person. For a public body that is a HIPAA-covered entity, "private information" includes electronic medical records and all information, including demographic information, contained within or extracted from an electronic medical records system operated or maintained by the public body in compliance with State and federal medical privacy laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and its regulations, 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164. As used in this subsection, "HIPAA-covered entity" has the meaning given to the term "covered entity" in 45 CFR 160.103.

(c-10) "Commercial purpose" means the use of any part of a public record or records, or information derived from public records, in any form for sale, resale, or solicitation or advertisement for sales or services, or for any use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interests of the requester or the person on whose behalf the request is made. For purposes of this definition, requests made by news media and non-profit, scientific, or academic organizations shall not be considered to be made for a "commercial purpose" when the principal purpose of the request is (i) to access and disseminate information concerning news and current or passing events, (ii) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the public, or (iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public research or education.

(d) "Copying" means the reproduction of any public record by means of any photographic, electronic, mechanical or other process, device or means now known or hereafter developed and available to the public body.

(e) "Head of the public body" means the president, mayor, chairman, presiding officer, director, superintendent, manager, supervisor or individual otherwise holding primary executive and administrative authority for the public body, or such person's duly authorized designee.

(f) "News media" means a newspaper or other periodical issued at regular intervals whether in print or electronic format, a news service whether in print or electronic format, a radio station, a television station, a television network, a community antenna television service, or a person or corporation engaged in making news reels or other motion picture news for public showing. "News media" does not include Internet sites, social media channels, or other sites or applications that post law enforcement videos in exchange for compensation based on the number of views.

(g) "Recurrent requester", as used in Section 3.2 of this Act, means a person that, in the 12 months immediately preceding the request, has submitted to the same public body (i) a minimum of 50 requests for records, (ii) a minimum of 15 requests for records within a 30-day period, or (iii) a minimum of 7 requests for records within a 7-day period. For purposes of this definition, requests made by news media and non-profit, scientific, or academic organizations shall not be considered in calculating the number of requests made in the time periods in this definition when the principal purpose of the requests is (i) to access and disseminate information concerning news and current or passing events, (ii) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the public, or (iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public research or education.

For the purposes of this subsection (g), "request" means a written document (or oral request, if the public body chooses to honor oral requests) that is submitted to a public body via personal delivery, mail, telefax, electronic mail, or other means available to the public body and that identifies the particular public record the requester seeks. One request may identify multiple records to be inspected or copied.

(h) "Voluminous request" means a request that: (i) includes more than 5 individual requests for more than 5 different categories of records or a combination of individual requests that total requests for more than 5 different categories of records in a period of 20 business days; or (ii) requires the compilation of more than 500 letter or legal-sized pages of public records unless a single requested record exceeds 500 pages. "Single requested record" may include, but is not limited to, one report, form, e-mail, letter, memorandum, book, map, microfilm, tape, or recording.

"Voluminous request" does not include a request made by news media and non-profit, scientific, or academic organizations if the principal purpose of the request is: (1) to access and disseminate information concerning news and current or passing events; (2) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the public; or (3) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public research or education.

For the purposes of this subsection (h), "request" means a written document, or oral request, if the public body chooses to honor oral requests, that is submitted to a public body via personal delivery, mail, telefax, electronic mail, or other means available to the public body and that identifies the particular public record or records the requester seeks. One request may identify multiple individual records to be inspected or copied.

(i) "Severance agreement" means a mutual agreement between any public body and its employee for the employee's resignation in exchange for payment by the public body.

(Source: P.A. 103-554, eff. 1-1-24.)

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

Sec. 6. Authority to charge fees.

(a) When a person requests a copy of a record maintained in an electronic format, the public body shall furnish it in the electronic format specified by the requester, if feasible. If it is not feasible to furnish the public records in the specified electronic format, then the public body shall furnish it in the format in which it is maintained by the public body, or in paper format at the option of the requester. A public body may charge the requester for the actual cost of purchasing the recording medium, whether disc, diskette, tape, or other medium. If a request is not a request for a commercial purpose or a voluminous request, a public body may not charge the requester for the costs of any search for and review of the records or other personnel costs associated with reproducing the records. Except to the extent that the General Assembly expressly provides, statutory fees applicable to copies of public records when furnished in a paper format shall not be applicable to those records when furnished in an electronic format.

(a-5) If a voluminous request is for electronic records and those records are not in a portable document format (PDF), the public body may charge up to $20 for not more than 2 megabytes of data, up to $40 for more than 2 but not more than 4 megabytes of data, and up to $100 for more than 4 megabytes of data. If a voluminous request is for electronic records and those records are in a portable document format, the public body may charge up to $20 for not more than 80 megabytes of data, up to $40 for more than 80 megabytes but not more than 160 megabytes of data, and up to $100 for more than 160 megabytes of data. If the responsive electronic records are in both a portable document format and not in a portable document format, the public body may separate the fees and charge the requester under both fee scales.

If a public body imposes a fee pursuant to this subsection (a-5), it must provide the requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel hours in connection with the request for public records.

(b) Except when a fee is otherwise fixed by statute, 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. No fees shall be charged for the first 50 pages of black and white, letter or legal sized copies requested by a requester. The fee for black and white, letter or legal sized copies shall not exceed 15 cents per page. If a public body provides copies in color or in a size other than letter or legal, the public body may not charge more than its actual cost for reproducing the records. In calculating its actual cost for reproducing records or for the use of the equipment of the public body to reproduce records, a public body shall not include the costs of any search for and review of the records or other personnel costs associated with reproducing the records, except for commercial requests as provided in subsection (f) of this Section. Such fees shall be imposed according to a standard scale of fees, established and made public by the body imposing them. The cost for certifying a record shall not exceed $1.

(c) 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.

(d) The imposition of a fee not consistent with subsections (6)(a) and (b) of this Act constitutes a denial of access to public records for the purposes of judicial review.

(e) The fee for each 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, whether furnished as a paper copy or as an electronic copy.

(f) Except for audio and video records, a A public body may charge up to $10 for each hour spent by personnel in searching for and retrieving a requested record or examining the record for necessary redactions. A public body may charge up to $40 for each hour spent by personnel in searching for, retrieving, reviewing, redacting, and reproducing audio and video records. No fees shall be charged for the first 3 8 hours spent by personnel in searching for or retrieving a requested record. A public body may charge the actual cost of retrieving and transporting public records from an off-site storage facility when the public records are maintained by a third-party storage company under contract with the public body. If a public body imposes a fee pursuant to this subsection (f), it must provide the requester with an accounting of all fees, costs, and personnel hours in connection with the request for public records. The provisions of this subsection (f) apply only to commercial requests.

(Source: P.A. 97-579, eff. 8-26-11; 98-1129, eff. 12-3-14.)

Section 10. The Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act is amended by changing Section 10-20 as follows:

(50 ILCS 706/10-20)

Sec. 10-20. Requirements.

(a) The Board shall develop basic guidelines for the use of officer-worn body cameras by law enforcement agencies. The guidelines developed by the Board shall be the basis for the written policy which must be adopted by each law enforcement agency which employs the use of officer-worn body cameras. The written policy adopted by the law enforcement agency must include, at a minimum, all of the following:

(1) Cameras must be equipped with pre-event recording, capable of recording at least the 30 seconds prior to camera activation, unless the officer-worn body camera was purchased and acquired by the law enforcement agency prior to July 1, 2015.

(2) Cameras must be capable of recording for a period of 10 hours or more, unless the officer-worn body camera was purchased and acquired by the law enforcement agency prior to July 1, 2015.

(3) Cameras must be turned on at all times when the officer is in uniform and is responding to calls for service or engaged in any law enforcement-related encounter or activity that occurs while the officer is on duty.

(A) If exigent circumstances exist which prevent the camera from being turned on, the camera must be turned on as soon as practicable.

(B) Officer-worn body cameras may be turned off when the officer is inside of a patrol car which is equipped with a functioning in-car camera; however, the officer must turn on the camera upon exiting the patrol vehicle for law enforcement-related encounters.

(C) Officer-worn body cameras may be turned off when the officer is inside a correctional facility or courthouse which is equipped with a functioning camera system.

(4) Cameras must be turned off when:

(A) the victim of a crime requests that the camera be turned off, and unless impractical or impossible, that request is made on the recording;

(B) a witness of a crime or a community member who wishes to report a crime requests that the camera be turned off, and unless impractical or impossible that request is made on the recording;

(C) the officer is interacting with a confidential informant used by the law enforcement agency; or

(D) an officer of the Department of Revenue enters a Department of Revenue facility or conducts an interview during which return information will be discussed or visible.

However, an officer may continue to record or resume recording a victim or a witness, if exigent circumstances exist, or if the officer has reasonable articulable suspicion that a victim or witness, or confidential informant has committed or is in the process of committing a crime. Under these circumstances, and unless impractical or impossible, the officer must indicate on the recording the reason for continuing to record despite the request of the victim or witness.

(4.5) Cameras may be turned off when the officer is engaged in community caretaking functions. However, the camera must be turned on when the officer has reason to believe that the person on whose behalf the officer is performing a community caretaking function has committed or is in the process of committing a crime. If exigent circumstances exist which prevent the camera from being turned on, the camera must be turned on as soon as practicable.

(5) The officer must provide notice of recording to any person if the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and proof of notice must be evident in the recording. If exigent circumstances exist which prevent the officer from providing notice, notice must be provided as soon as practicable.

(6) (A) For the purposes of redaction or duplicating recordings, access to camera recordings shall be restricted to only those personnel responsible for those purposes. The recording officer or his or her supervisor may not redact, duplicate, or otherwise alter the recording officer's camera recordings. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, the recording officer and his or her supervisor may access and review recordings prior to completing incident reports or other documentation, provided that the supervisor discloses that fact in the report or documentation.

(i) A law enforcement officer shall not have access to or review his or her body-worn camera recordings or the body-worn camera recordings of another officer prior to completing incident reports or other documentation when the officer:

(a) has been involved in or is a witness to an officer-involved shooting, use of deadly force incident, or use of force incidents resulting in great bodily harm;

(b) is ordered to write a report in response to or during the investigation of a misconduct complaint against the officer.

(ii) If the officer subject to subparagraph (i) prepares a report, any report shall be prepared without viewing body-worn camera recordings, and subject to supervisor's approval, officers may file amendatory reports after viewing body-worn camera recordings. Supplemental reports under this provision shall also contain documentation regarding access to the video footage.

(B) The recording officer's assigned field training officer may access and review recordings for training purposes. Any detective or investigator directly involved in the investigation of a matter may access and review recordings which pertain to that investigation but may not have access to delete or alter such recordings.

(7) Recordings made on officer-worn cameras must be retained by the law enforcement agency or by the camera vendor used by the agency, on a recording medium for a period of 90 days.

(A) Under no circumstances shall any recording, except for a non-law enforcement related activity or encounter, made with an officer-worn body camera be altered, erased, or destroyed prior to the expiration of the 90-day storage period. In the event any recording made with an officer-worn body camera is altered, erased, or destroyed prior to the expiration of the 90-day storage period, the law enforcement agency shall maintain, for a period of one year, a written record including (i) the name of the individual who made such alteration, erasure, or destruction, and (ii) the reason for any such alteration, erasure, or destruction.

(B) Following the 90-day storage period, any and all recordings made with an officer-worn body camera must be destroyed, unless any encounter captured on the recording has been flagged. An encounter is deemed to be flagged when:

(i) a formal or informal complaint has been filed;

(ii) the officer discharged his or her firearm or used force during the encounter;

(iii) death or great bodily harm occurred to any person in the recording;

(iv) the encounter resulted in a detention or an arrest, excluding traffic stops which resulted in only a minor traffic offense or business offense;

(v) the officer is the subject of an internal investigation or otherwise being investigated for possible misconduct;

(vi) the supervisor of the officer, prosecutor, defendant, or court determines that the encounter has evidentiary value in a criminal prosecution; or

(vii) the recording officer requests that the video be flagged for official purposes related to his or her official duties or believes it may have evidentiary value in a criminal prosecution.

(C) Under no circumstances shall any recording made with an officer-worn body camera relating to a flagged encounter be altered or destroyed prior to 2 years after the recording was flagged. If the flagged recording was used in a criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding, the recording shall not be destroyed except upon a final disposition and order from the court.

(D) Nothing in this Act prohibits law enforcement agencies from labeling officer-worn body camera video within the recording medium; provided that the labeling does not alter the actual recording of the incident captured on the officer-worn body camera. The labels, titles, and tags shall not be construed as altering the officer-worn body camera video in any way.

(8) Following the 90-day storage period, recordings may be retained if a supervisor at the law enforcement agency designates the recording for training purposes. If the recording is designated for training purposes, the recordings may be viewed by officers, in the presence of a supervisor or training instructor, for the purposes of instruction, training, or ensuring compliance with agency policies.

(9) Recordings shall not be used to discipline law enforcement officers unless:

(A) a formal or informal complaint of misconduct has been made;

(B) a use of force incident has occurred;

(C) the encounter on the recording could result in a formal investigation under the Uniform Peace Officers' Disciplinary Act; or

(D) as corroboration of other evidence of misconduct.

Nothing in this paragraph (9) shall be construed to limit or prohibit a law enforcement officer from being subject to an action that does not amount to discipline.

(10) The law enforcement agency shall ensure proper care and maintenance of officer-worn body cameras. Upon becoming aware, officers must as soon as practical document and notify the appropriate supervisor of any technical difficulties, failures, or problems with the officer-worn body camera or associated equipment. Upon receiving notice, the appropriate supervisor shall make every reasonable effort to correct and repair any of the officer-worn body camera equipment.

(11) No officer may hinder or prohibit any person, not a law enforcement officer, from recording a law enforcement officer in the performance of his or her duties in a public place or when the officer has no reasonable expectation of privacy. The law enforcement agency's written policy shall indicate the potential criminal penalties, as well as any departmental discipline, which may result from unlawful confiscation or destruction of the recording medium of a person who is not a law enforcement officer. However, an officer may take reasonable action to maintain safety and control, secure crime scenes and accident sites, protect the integrity and confidentiality of investigations, and protect the public safety and order.

(b) Recordings made with the use of an officer-worn body camera are not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, except that:

(1) if the subject of the encounter has a reasonable expectation of privacy, at the time of the recording, any recording which is flagged, due to the filing of a complaint, discharge of a firearm, use of force, arrest or detention, or resulting death or bodily harm, shall be disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act if:

(A) the subject of the encounter captured on the recording is a victim or witness; and

(B) the law enforcement agency obtains written permission of the subject or the subject's legal representative;

(2) except as provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection (b), and unless disclosure is requested for a commercial purpose, as defined in the Freedom of Information Act, any recording which is flagged due to the filing of a complaint, discharge of a firearm, use of force, arrest or detention, or resulting death or bodily harm shall be disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act; and

(3) upon request, the law enforcement agency shall disclose, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, the recording to the subject of the encounter captured on the recording or to the subject's attorney, or the officer or his or her legal representative.

For the purposes of paragraph (1) of this subsection (b), the subject of the encounter does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy if the subject was arrested as a result of the encounter. For purposes of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of this subsection (b), "witness" does not include a person who is a victim or who was arrested as a result of the encounter.

Only recordings or portions of recordings responsive to the request shall be available for inspection or reproduction. Any recording disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act shall be redacted to remove identification of any person that appears on the recording and is not the officer, a subject of the encounter, or directly involved in the encounter. Nothing in this subsection (b) shall require the disclosure of any recording or portion of any recording which would be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

(c) Nothing in this Section shall limit access to a camera recording for the purposes of complying with Supreme Court rules or the rules of evidence.

(Source: P.A. 101-652, eff. 7-1-21; 102-28, eff. 6-25-21; 102-687, eff. 12-17-21; 102-694, eff. 1-7-22; 102-1104, eff. 12-6-22.)