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91_HB1834
LRB9103139PTmb
1 AN ACT concerning public records.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing
5 Section 1.02 as follows:
6 (5 ILCS 120/1.02) (from Ch. 102, par. 41.02)
7 Sec. 1.02. For the purposes of this Act:
8 "Meeting" means any gathering of a majority of a quorum
9 of the commissioners of a public body held for the purpose of
10 discussing public business.
11 "Public body" includes all legislative, executive,
12 administrative or advisory bodies of the state, counties,
13 townships, cities, villages, incorporated towns, school
14 districts and all other municipal corporations, boards,
15 bureaus, committees or commissions of this State, and any
16 subsidiary bodies of any of the foregoing including but not
17 limited to municipal convention or civic center boards, local
18 tourism boards and councils, economic development boards, and
19 all committees and subcommittees which are supported in whole
20 or in part by tax revenue, or which expend tax revenue,
21 except the General Assembly and committees or commissions
22 thereof. "Public body" includes tourism boards and convention
23 or civic center boards located in counties that are
24 contiguous to the Mississippi River with populations of more
25 than 250,000 but less than 300,000. "Public body" does not
26 include a child death review team established under the Child
27 Death Review Team Act or an ethics commission, ethics
28 officer, or ultimate jurisdictional authority acting under
29 the State Gift Ban Act as provided by Section 80 of that Act.
30 (Source: P.A. 90-517, eff. 8-22-97; 90-737, eff. 1-1-99.)
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1 Section 10. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
2 changing Sections 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 as follows:
3 (5 ILCS 140/1) (from Ch. 116, par. 201)
4 Sec. 1. Pursuant to the fundamental philosophy of the
5 American constitutional form of government, it is declared to
6 be the public policy of the State of Illinois that all
7 persons are entitled to full and complete information
8 regarding the affairs of government and the official acts and
9 policies of those who represent them as public officials and
10 public employees consistent with the terms of this Act. Such
11 access is necessary to enable the people to fulfill their
12 duties of discussing public issues fully and freely, making
13 informed political judgments and monitoring government to
14 ensure that it is being conducted in the public interest.
15 This Act is not intended to be used to violate individual
16 privacy, nor for the purpose of furthering a commercial
17 enterprise, or to disrupt the duly-undertaken work of any
18 public body independent of the fulfillment of any of the
19 fore-mentioned rights of the people to access to information.
20 This Act is not intended to create an obligation on the
21 part of any public body to maintain or prepare any public
22 record which was not maintained or prepared by such public
23 body at the time when this Act becomes effective, except as
24 otherwise required by applicable local, State or federal law.
25 These restraints on information access should be seen as
26 limited exceptions to the general rule that the people have a
27 right to know the decisions, policies, procedures, rules,
28 standards, and other aspects of government activity that
29 affect the conduct of government and the lives of any or all
30 of the people. The exemptions to public disclosure cited in
31 this Act are in derogation of the requirement that public
32 records be disclosed upon request. These exemptions are to
33 be strictly construed and extend only to public records
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1 clearly within the scope of the exemptions. Each exemption
2 shall be applied by balancing the strong interest in
3 disclosure of public records and the specific interest to be
4 protected by the exemption. The provisions of this Act shall
5 be construed to this end.
6 This Act shall be the exclusive State statute on freedom
7 of information, except to the extent that other State
8 statutes might create additional restrictions on disclosure
9 of information or other laws in Illinois might create
10 additional obligations for disclosure of information to the
11 public.
12 (Source: P.A. 83-1013.)
13 (5 ILCS 140/2) (from Ch. 116, par. 202)
14 Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this Act:
15 (a) "Public body" means any legislative, executive,
16 administrative, or advisory bodies of the State, state
17 universities and colleges, counties, townships, cities,
18 villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other
19 municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees, or
20 commissions of this State, and any subsidiary bodies of any
21 of the foregoing including but not limited to municipal civic
22 centers, local tourism boards and councils, economic
23 development boards, and all committees and subcommittees
24 which are supported in whole or in part by tax revenue, or
25 which expend tax revenue. "Public body" does not include a
26 child death review team established under the Child Death
27 Review Team Act.
28 (b) "Person" means any individual, corporation,
29 partnership, firm, organization or association, acting
30 individually or as a group.
31 (c) "Public records" means all records, reports, forms,
32 writings, letters, memoranda, books, papers, maps,
33 photographs, microfilms, cards, magnetic or other tapes,
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1 recordings, electronic data processing records, recorded
2 information and all other documentary materials, regardless
3 of physical form or characteristics, having been prepared, or
4 having been or being used, received, possessed or under the
5 control of any public body. "Public records" includes, but
6 is expressly not limited to: (i) administrative manuals,
7 procedural rules, and instructions to staff, unless exempted
8 by Section 7(p) of this Act; (ii) final opinions and orders
9 made in the adjudication of cases, except an educational
10 institution's adjudication of student or employee grievance
11 or disciplinary cases; (iii) substantive rules; (iv)
12 statements and interpretations of policy which have been
13 adopted by a public body; (v) final planning policies,
14 recommendations, and decisions; (vi) factual reports,
15 inspection reports, and studies whether prepared by or for
16 the public body; (vii) all information in any account,
17 voucher, or contract dealing with the receipt or expenditure
18 of public or other funds of public bodies; (viii) the names,
19 salaries, titles, and dates of employment of all employees
20 and officers of public bodies; (ix) materials containing
21 opinions concerning the rights of the state, the public, a
22 subdivision of state or a local government, or of any private
23 persons; (x) the name of every official and the final records
24 of voting in all proceedings of public bodies; (xi)
25 applications for any contract, permit, grant, or agreement
26 except as exempted from disclosure by subsection (g) of
27 Section 7 of this Act; (xii) each report, document, study, or
28 publication prepared by independent consultants or other
29 independent contractors for the public body; (xiii) all other
30 information required by law to be made available for public
31 inspection or copying; (xiv) information relating to any
32 grant or contract made by or between a public body and
33 another public body or private organization; (xv) waiver
34 documents filed with the State Superintendent of Education or
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1 the president of the University of Illinois under Section
2 30-12.5 of the School Code, concerning nominees for General
3 Assembly scholarships under Sections 30-9, 30-10, and 30-11
4 of the School Code and (xvi) complaints, results of
5 complaints, and Department of Children and Family Services
6 staff findings of licensing violations at day care
7 facilities, provided that personal and identifying
8 information is not released.
9 (d) "Copying" means the reproduction of any public
10 record by means of any photographic, electronic, mechanical
11 or other process, device or means.
12 (e) "Head of the public body" means the president,
13 mayor, chairman, presiding officer, director, superintendent,
14 manager, supervisor or individual otherwise holding primary
15 executive and administrative authority for the public body,
16 or such person's duly authorized designee.
17 (f) "News media" means a newspaper or other periodical
18 issued at regular intervals, a news service, a radio station,
19 a television station, a community antenna television service,
20 or a person or corporation engaged in making news reels or
21 other motion picture news for public showing.
22 (Source: P.A. 89-681, eff. 12-13-96; 90-144, eff. 7-23-97;
23 90-670, eff. 7-31-98.)
24 (5 ILCS 140/3) (from Ch. 116, par. 203)
25 Sec. 3. (a) Each public body shall make available to
26 any person for inspection or copying all public records,
27 except as otherwise provided in Section 7 of this Act.
28 Notwithstanding any other law, a public body may not grant to
29 any person or entity, whether by contract, license, or
30 otherwise, the exclusive right to access and disseminate any
31 public record as defined in this Act.
32 (b) Subject to the fee provisions of Section 6 of this
33 Act, each public body shall promptly provide, to any person
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1 who submits a written request, a copy of any public record
2 required to be disclosed by subsection (a) of this Section
3 and shall certify such copy if so requested. Each public body
4 may require a written request for copies of public records.
5 (c) Each public body shall, promptly, either comply with
6 or deny a written request for public records within 7 working
7 days after its receipt. Denial shall be by letter as
8 provided in Section 9 of this Act. Failure to respond to a
9 written request within 7 working days after its receipt shall
10 be considered a denial of the request.
11 (d) The time limits prescribed in paragraph (c) of this
12 Section may be extended in each case for not more than 7
13 additional working days for any of the following reasons:
14 (i) the requested records are stored in whole or in
15 part at other locations than the office having charge of
16 the requested records;
17 (ii) the request requires the collection of a
18 substantial number of specified records;
19 (iii) the request is couched in categorical terms
20 and requires an extensive search for the records
21 responsive to it;
22 (iv) the requested records have not been located in
23 the course of routine search and additional efforts are
24 being made to locate them;
25 (v) the requested records require examination and
26 evaluation by personnel having the necessary competence
27 and discretion to determine if they are exempt from
28 disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be
29 revealed only with appropriate deletions;
30 (vi) the request for records cannot be complied
31 with by the public body within the time limits prescribed
32 by paragraph (c) of this Section without unduly burdening
33 or interfering with the operations of the public body;
34 (vii) there is a need for consultation, which shall
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1 be conducted with all practicable speed, with another
2 public body or among two or more components of a public
3 body having a substantial interest in the determination
4 or in the subject matter of the request.
5 (e) When additional time is required for any of the
6 above reasons, the public body shall notify by letter the
7 person making the written request within the time limits
8 specified by paragraph (c) of this Section of the reasons for
9 the delay and the date by which the records will be made
10 available or denial will be forthcoming. In no instance, may
11 the delay in processing last longer than 7 working days. A
12 failure to render a decision within 7 working days shall be
13 considered a denial of the request.
14 (f) Requests calling for all records falling within a
15 category shall be complied with unless compliance with the
16 request would be unduly burdensome for the complying public
17 body and there is no way to narrow the request and the burden
18 on the public body outweighs the public interest in the
19 information. Before invoking this exemption, the public body
20 shall extend to the person making the request an opportunity
21 to confer with it in an attempt to reduce the request to
22 manageable proportions. If any body responds to a
23 categorical request by stating that compliance would unduly
24 burden its operation and the conditions described above are
25 met, it shall do so in writing, specifying the reasons why it
26 would be unduly burdensome and the extent to which compliance
27 will so burden the operations of the public body. Such a
28 response shall be treated as a denial of the request for
29 information. Repeated requests for the same public records
30 by the same person shall be deemed unduly burdensome under
31 this provision.
32 (g) Each public body may promulgate rules and
33 regulations in conformity with the provisions of this Section
34 pertaining to the availability of records and procedures to
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1 be followed, including:
2 (i) the times and places where such records will be
3 made available, and
4 (ii) the persons from whom such records may be
5 obtained.
6 (Source: P.A. 90-206, eff. 7-25-97.)
7 (5 ILCS 140/6) (from Ch. 116, par. 206)
8 Sec. 6. Authority to charge fees.
9 (a) Each public body may charge fees reasonably
10 calculated to reimburse its actual cost for reproducing and
11 certifying public records and for the use, by any person, of
12 the equipment of the public body to copy records. Such fees
13 shall exclude the costs of any search for and review of the
14 record, and shall not exceed the actual cost of reproduction
15 and certification, regardless of the format of the record,
16 unless otherwise provided by State statute. Except when
17 responding to a request that necessitates the creation of a
18 new document, "actual costs" shall be limited to direct
19 chargeable costs related to copying or reproduction of the
20 record and shall not include the cost of labor used to copy
21 or reproduce the record. Such fees shall be imposed
22 according to a standard scale of fees, established and made
23 public by the body imposing them. Nothing in this Section
24 shall require the creation of a new document by the public
25 body.
26 (b) Documents shall be furnished without charge or at a
27 reduced charge, as determined by the public body, if the
28 person requesting the documents states the specific purpose
29 for the request and indicates that a waiver or reduction of
30 the fee is in the public interest. Waiver or reduction of
31 the fee is in the public interest if the principal purpose of
32 the request is to access and disseminate information
33 regarding the health, safety and welfare or the legal rights
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1 of the general public and is not for the principal purpose of
2 personal or commercial benefit. For purposes of this
3 subsection, "commercial benefit" shall not apply to requests
4 made by news media when the principal purpose of the request
5 is to access and disseminate information regarding the
6 health, safety, and welfare or the legal rights of the
7 general public. In setting the amount of the waiver or
8 reduction, the public body may take into consideration the
9 amount of materials requested and the cost of copying them.
10 (c) The purposeful imposition of a fee not consistent
11 with subsections (6)(a) and (b) of this Act shall be
12 considered a denial of access to public records for the
13 purposes of judicial review.
14 (d) The fee for an abstract of a driver's record shall
15 be as provided in Section 6-118 of "The Illinois Vehicle
16 Code", approved September 29, 1969, as amended.
17 (Source: P.A. 90-144, eff. 7-23-97.)
18 (5 ILCS 140/7) (from Ch. 116, par. 207)
19 Sec. 7. Exemptions.
20 (1) The following shall be exempt from inspection and
21 copying:
22 (a) Information specifically prohibited from
23 disclosure by federal or State law or rules and
24 regulations adopted under federal or State law.
25 (b) Information that, if disclosed, would
26 constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
27 privacy, unless the disclosure is consented to in writing
28 by the individual subjects of the information. The
29 disclosure of information that bears on the public duties
30 of public employees and officials shall not be considered
31 an invasion of personal privacy. Information exempted
32 under this subsection (b) shall include but is not
33 limited to:
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1 (i) files and personal information maintained
2 with respect to clients, patients, residents,
3 students or other individuals receiving social,
4 medical, educational, vocational, financial,
5 supervisory or custodial care or services directly
6 or indirectly from federal agencies or public
7 bodies;
8 (ii) personnel files and personal information
9 maintained with respect to employees, appointees or
10 elected officials of any public body or applicants
11 for those positions;
12 (iii) files and personal information
13 maintained with respect to any applicant, registrant
14 or licensee by any public body cooperating with or
15 engaged in professional or occupational
16 registration, licensure or discipline;
17 (iv) information required of any taxpayer in
18 connection with the assessment or collection of any
19 tax unless disclosure is otherwise required by State
20 statute; and
21 (v) information revealing the identity of
22 persons who file complaints with or provide
23 information to administrative, investigative, law
24 enforcement or penal agencies; provided, however,
25 that identification of witnesses to traffic
26 accidents, traffic accident reports, and rescue
27 reports may be provided by agencies of local
28 government, except in a case for which a criminal
29 investigation is ongoing, without constituting a
30 clearly unwarranted per se invasion of personal
31 privacy under this subsection.
32 (c) Records compiled by any public body for
33 administrative enforcement proceedings and any law
34 enforcement or correctional agency for law enforcement
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1 purposes or for internal matters of a public body, but
2 only to the extent that disclosure would:
3 (i) interfere with pending or actually and
4 reasonably contemplated law enforcement proceedings
5 conducted by any law enforcement or correctional
6 agency;
7 (ii) interfere with pending administrative
8 enforcement proceedings conducted by any public
9 body;
10 (iii) deprive a person of a fair trial or an
11 impartial hearing;
12 (iv) unavoidably disclose the identity of a
13 confidential source or confidential information
14 furnished only by the confidential source;
15 (v) disclose unique or specialized
16 investigative techniques other than those generally
17 used and known or disclose internal documents of
18 correctional agencies related to detection,
19 observation or investigation of incidents of crime
20 or misconduct;
21 (vi) constitute an invasion of personal
22 privacy under subsection (b) of this Section;
23 (vii) endanger the life or physical safety of
24 law enforcement personnel or any other person; or
25 (viii) obstruct an ongoing criminal
26 investigation.
27 (d) Criminal history record information maintained
28 by State or local criminal justice agencies, except the
29 following which shall be open for public inspection and
30 copying:
31 (i) chronologically maintained arrest
32 information, such as traditional arrest logs or
33 blotters;
34 (ii) the name of a person in the custody of a
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1 law enforcement agency and the charges for which
2 that person is being held;
3 (iii) court records that are public;
4 (iv) records that are otherwise available
5 under State or local law; or
6 (v) records in which the requesting party is
7 the individual identified, except as provided under
8 part (vii) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of
9 this Section.
10 "Criminal history record information" means data
11 identifiable to an individual and consisting of
12 descriptions or notations of arrests, detentions,
13 indictments, informations, pre-trial proceedings, trials,
14 or other formal events in the criminal justice system or
15 descriptions or notations of criminal charges (including
16 criminal violations of local municipal ordinances) and
17 the nature of any disposition arising therefrom,
18 including sentencing, court or correctional supervision,
19 rehabilitation and release. The term does not apply to
20 statistical records and reports in which individuals are
21 not identified and from which their identities are not
22 ascertainable, or to information that is for criminal
23 investigative or intelligence purposes.
24 (e) Records that relate to or affect the security
25 of correctional institutions and detention facilities.
26 (f) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations,
27 memoranda and other records in which opinions are
28 expressed, or policies or actions are formulated, except
29 that a specific record or relevant portion of a record
30 shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited and
31 identified or publicly distributed by the head of the
32 public body. The exemption provided in this paragraph (f)
33 extends to all those records of officers and agencies of
34 the General Assembly that pertain to the preparation of
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1 legislative documents.
2 (g) Trade secrets and commercial or financial
3 information obtained from a person or business where the
4 trade secrets or information are proprietary, privileged
5 or confidential, or where disclosure of the trade secrets
6 or information may cause competitive harm, including all
7 information determined to be confidential under Section
8 4002 of the Technology Advancement and Development Act.
9 Nothing contained in this paragraph (g) shall be
10 construed to prevent a person or business from consenting
11 to disclosure.
12 (h) Proposals and bids for any contract, grant, or
13 agreement, including information which if it were
14 disclosed would frustrate procurement or give an
15 advantage to any person proposing to enter into a
16 contractor agreement with the body, until an award or
17 final selection is made. Information prepared by or for
18 the body in preparation of a bid solicitation shall be
19 exempt until an award or final selection is made.
20 (i) Valuable formulae, designs, drawings and
21 research data obtained or produced by any public body
22 when disclosure could reasonably be expected to produce
23 private gain or public loss.
24 (j) Test questions, scoring keys and other
25 examination data used to administer an academic
26 examination or determined the qualifications of an
27 applicant for a license or employment.
28 (k) Architects' plans and engineers' technical
29 submissions for projects not constructed or developed in
30 whole or in part with public funds and for projects
31 constructed or developed with public funds, to the extent
32 that disclosure would compromise security.
33 (l) Library circulation and order records
34 identifying library users with specific materials.
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1 (m) Minutes of meetings of public bodies closed to
2 the public as provided in the Open Meetings Act until the
3 public body makes the minutes available to the public
4 under Section 2.06 of the Open Meetings Act.
5 (n) Communications between a public body and an
6 attorney or auditor representing the public body that
7 would not be subject to discovery in litigation, and
8 materials prepared or compiled by or for a public body in
9 anticipation of a criminal, civil or administrative
10 proceeding upon the request of an attorney advising the
11 public body, and materials prepared or compiled with
12 respect to internal audits of public bodies.
13 (o) Information received by a primary or secondary
14 school, college or university under its procedures for
15 the evaluation of faculty members by their academic
16 peers.
17 (p) Administrative or technical information
18 associated with automated data processing operations,
19 including but not limited to software, operating
20 protocols, computer program abstracts, file layouts,
21 source listings, object modules, load modules, user
22 guides, documentation pertaining to all logical and
23 physical design of computerized systems, employee
24 manuals, and any other information that, if disclosed,
25 would jeopardize the security of the system or its data
26 or the security of materials exempt under this Section.
27 (q) Documents or materials relating to collective
28 negotiating matters between public bodies and their
29 employees or representatives, except that any final
30 contract or agreement shall be subject to inspection and
31 copying.
32 (r) Drafts, notes, recommendations and memoranda
33 pertaining to the financing and marketing transactions of
34 the public body. The records of ownership, registration,
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1 transfer, and exchange of municipal debt obligations, and
2 of persons to whom payment with respect to these
3 obligations is made.
4 (s) The records, documents and information relating
5 to real estate purchase negotiations until those
6 negotiations have been completed or otherwise terminated.
7 With regard to a parcel involved in a pending or actually
8 and reasonably contemplated eminent domain proceeding
9 under Article VII of the Code of Civil Procedure,
10 records, documents and information relating to that
11 parcel shall be exempt except as may be allowed under
12 discovery rules adopted by the Illinois Supreme Court.
13 The records, documents and information relating to a real
14 estate sale shall be exempt until a sale is consummated.
15 (t) Any and all proprietary information and records
16 related to the operation of an intergovernmental risk
17 management association or self-insurance pool or jointly
18 self-administered health and accident cooperative or
19 pool.
20 (u) Information concerning a university's
21 adjudication of student or employee grievance or
22 disciplinary cases, to the extent that disclosure would
23 reveal the identity of the student or employee and
24 information concerning any public body's adjudication of
25 student or employee grievances or disciplinary cases,
26 except for the final outcome of the cases.
27 (v) Course materials or research materials used by
28 faculty members.
29 (w) Information related solely to the internal
30 personnel rules and practices of a public body.
31 (x) Information contained in or related to
32 examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by,
33 on behalf of, or for the use of a public body responsible
34 for the regulation or supervision of financial
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1 institutions or insurance companies, unless disclosure is
2 otherwise required by State law.
3 (y) Information the disclosure of which is
4 restricted under Section 5-108 of the Public Utilities
5 Act.
6 (z) Manuals or instruction to staff that relate to
7 establishment or collection of liability for any State
8 tax or that relate to investigations by a public body to
9 determine violation of any criminal law.
10 (aa) Applications, related documents, and medical
11 records received by the Experimental Organ
12 Transplantation Procedures Board and any and all
13 documents or other records prepared by the Experimental
14 Organ Transplantation Procedures Board or its staff
15 relating to applications it has received.
16 (bb) Insurance or self insurance (including any
17 intergovernmental risk management association or self
18 insurance pool) claims, loss or risk management
19 information, records, data, advice or communications.
20 (cc) Information and records held by the Department
21 of Public Health and its authorized representatives
22 relating to known or suspected cases of sexually
23 transmissible disease or any information the disclosure
24 of which is restricted under the Illinois Sexually
25 Transmissible Disease Control Act.
26 (dd) Information the disclosure of which is
27 exempted under Section 30 of the Radon Industry Licensing
28 Act.
29 (ee) Firm performance evaluations under Section 55
30 of the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying
31 Qualifications Based Selection Act.
32 (ff) Security portions of system safety program
33 plans, investigation reports, surveys, schedules, lists,
34 data, or information compiled, collected, or prepared by
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1 or for the Regional Transportation Authority under
2 Section 2.11 of the Regional Transportation Authority Act
3 or the State of Missouri under the Bi-State Transit
4 Safety Act.
5 (gg) Information the disclosure of which is
6 restricted and exempted under Section 50 of the Illinois
7 Prepaid Tuition Act.
8 (hh) Information the disclosure of which is
9 exempted under Section 80 of the State Gift Ban Act.
10 (ii) Beginning July 1, 1999, (hh) information that
11 would disclose or might lead to the disclosure of secret
12 or confidential information, codes, algorithms, programs,
13 or private keys intended to be used to create electronic
14 or digital signatures under the Electronic Commerce
15 Security Act.
16 (2) This Section does not authorize withholding of
17 information or limit the availability of records to the
18 public, except as stated in this Section or otherwise
19 provided in this Act.
20 (Source: P.A. 90-262, eff. 7-30-97; 90-273, eff. 7-30-97;
21 90-546, eff. 12-1-97; 90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 90-737, eff.
22 1-1-99; 90-759, eff. 7-1-99; revised 9-8-98.)
23 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
24 becoming law.