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92_HB1952
LRB9205479JMcs
1 AN ACT concerning open meetings.
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 2 as follows:
6 (5 ILCS 120/2) (from Ch. 102, par. 42)
7 Sec. 2. Open meetings.
8 (a) Openness required. All meetings of public bodies
9 shall be open to the public unless excepted in subsection (c)
10 and closed in accordance with Section 2a or unless exempted
11 in subsection (f).
12 (b) Construction of exceptions. The exceptions
13 contained in subsection (c) are in derogation of the
14 requirement that public bodies meet in the open, and
15 therefore, the exceptions are to be strictly construed,
16 extending only to subjects clearly within their scope. The
17 exceptions authorize but do not require the holding of a
18 closed meeting to discuss a subject included within an
19 enumerated exception.
20 (c) Exceptions. A public body may hold closed meetings
21 to consider the following subjects:
22 (1) The appointment, employment, compensation,
23 discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific
24 employees of the public body, including hearing testimony
25 on a complaint lodged against an employee to determine
26 its validity.
27 (2) Collective negotiating matters between the
28 public body and its employees or their representatives,
29 or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or
30 more classes of employees.
31 (3) The selection of a person to fill a public
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1 office, as defined in this Act, including a vacancy in a
2 public office, when the public body is given power to
3 appoint under law or ordinance, or the discipline,
4 performance or removal of the occupant of a public
5 office, when the public body is given power to remove the
6 occupant under law or ordinance.
7 (4) Evidence or testimony presented in open
8 hearing, or in closed hearing where specifically
9 authorized by law, to a quasi-adjudicative body, as
10 defined in this Act, provided that the body prepares and
11 makes available for public inspection a written decision
12 setting forth its determinative reasoning.
13 (5) The purchase or lease of real property for the
14 use of the public body, including meetings held for the
15 purpose of discussing whether a particular parcel should
16 be acquired.
17 (6) The setting of a price for sale or lease of
18 property owned by the public body.
19 (7) The sale or purchase of securities,
20 investments, or investment contracts.
21 (8) Security procedures and the use of personnel
22 and equipment to respond to an actual, a threatened, or a
23 reasonably potential danger to the safety of employees,
24 students, staff or public property.
25 (9) Student disciplinary cases.
26 (10) The placement of individual students in
27 special education programs and other matters relating to
28 individual students.
29 (11) Litigation, when an action against, affecting
30 or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed
31 and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal,
32 or when the public body finds that an action is probable
33 or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding
34 shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the
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1 closed meeting.
2 (12) The establishment of reserves or settlement of
3 claims as provided in the Local Governmental and
4 Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, if otherwise
5 the disposition of a claim or potential claim might be
6 prejudiced, or the review or discussion of claims, loss
7 or risk management information, records, data, advice or
8 communications from or with respect to any insurer of the
9 public body or any intergovernmental risk management
10 association or self insurance pool of which the public
11 body is a member.
12 (13) Conciliation of complaints of discrimination
13 in the sale or rental of housing, when closed meetings
14 are authorized by the law or ordinance prescribing fair
15 housing practices and creating a commission or
16 administrative agency for their enforcement.
17 (14) Informant sources, the hiring or assignment of
18 undercover personnel or equipment, or ongoing, prior or
19 future criminal investigations, when discussed by a
20 public body with criminal investigatory responsibilities.
21 (15) Professional ethics or performance when
22 considered by an advisory body appointed to advise a
23 licensing or regulatory agency on matters germane to the
24 advisory body's field of competence.
25 (16) Self evaluation, practices and procedures or
26 professional ethics, when meeting with a representative
27 of a statewide association of which the public body is a
28 member.
29 (17) The recruitment, credentialing, discipline or
30 formal peer review of physicians or other health care
31 professionals for a hospital, or other institution
32 providing medical care, that is operated by the public
33 body.
34 (18) Deliberations for decisions of the Prisoner
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1 Review Board.
2 (19) Review or discussion of applications received
3 under the Experimental Organ Transplantation Procedures
4 Act.
5 (20) The classification and discussion of matters
6 classified as confidential or continued confidential by
7 the State Employees Suggestion Award Board.
8 (21) Discussion of minutes of meetings lawfully
9 closed under this Act, whether for purposes of approval
10 by the body of the minutes or semi-annual review of the
11 minutes as mandated by Section 2.06.
12 (22) Deliberations for decisions of the State
13 Emergency Medical Services Disciplinary Review Board.
14 (23) The operation by a municipality of a municipal
15 utility or the operation of a municipal power agency or
16 municipal natural gas agency when the discussion involves
17 (i) contracts relating to the purchase, sale, or delivery
18 of electricity or natural gas or (ii) the results or
19 conclusions of load forecast studies.
20 (d) Definitions. For purposes of this Section:
21 "Employee" means a person employed by a public body whose
22 relationship with the public body constitutes an
23 employer-employee relationship under the usual common law
24 rules, and who is not an independent contractor.
25 "Public office" means a position created by or under the
26 Constitution or laws of this State, the occupant of which is
27 charged with the exercise of some portion of the sovereign
28 power of this State. The term "public office" shall include
29 members of the public body, but it shall not include
30 organizational positions filled by members thereof, whether
31 established by law or by a public body itself, that exist to
32 assist the body in the conduct of its business.
33 "Quasi-adjudicative body" means an administrative body
34 charged by law or ordinance with the responsibility to
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1 conduct hearings, receive evidence or testimony and make
2 determinations based thereon, but does not include local
3 electoral boards when such bodies are considering petition
4 challenges.
5 (e) Final action. No final action may be taken at a
6 closed meeting. Final action shall be preceded by a public
7 recital of the nature of the matter being considered and
8 other information that will inform the public of the business
9 being conducted.
10 (f) Exemption. When the public body has 5 or fewer
11 members, any 2 members may meet to discuss legislative,
12 executive, or administrative responsibilities without
13 violating the provisions of this Act.
14 (Source: P.A. 90-144, eff. 7-23-97; 91-730, eff. 1-1-01.)