SB3671 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 36530 JRC 66637 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3671

Introduced 2/9/2024, by Sen. Erica Harriss

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the State's Attorney and Peace Officer Privacy Act. Provides that government agencies shall not publicly post or display publicly available content that includes the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer if the government agency has received a written request in accordance with the Act that it refrain from disclosing the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer. Provides that if a government agency fails to comply with a written request to refrain from disclosing personal information, the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer may bring an action seeking injunctive or declaratory relief in any court of competent jurisdiction. Provides that it is unlawful for any person to knowingly publicly post on the Internet the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer or of the immediate family of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer if the person knows or reasonably should know that publicly posting the personal information poses an imminent and serious threat to the health and safety of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer or the immediate family of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer, and the violation is a proximate cause of bodily injury or death of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer or the immediate family of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer. Provides that a person who violates this provision is guilty of a Class 3 felony. Provides exemptions. Defines terms. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning State's Attorneys, Assistant State's Attorneys, peace officers, and their immediate families.

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

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the State's Attorney and Peace Officer Privacy Act.

Section 5. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to improve the safety and security of Illinois State's Attorneys, Assistant State's Attorneys, and peace officers to ensure they are able to administer their duties fairly without fear of personal reprisal from individuals affected by the decisions they make in the course of carrying out their public function.

This Act is not intended to restrain a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer from independently making public his or her own personal information. Additionally, no government agency, person, business, or association has any obligation under this Act to protect the privacy of the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer until the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer makes a written request that his or her personal information not be publicly posted.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impair free access to the official actions of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer that are public information and in the course of carrying out his or her public functions.

Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Government agency" includes all agencies, authorities, boards, commissions, departments, institutions, offices, and any other bodies politic and corporate of the State created by the Constitution or statute, whether in the executive, judicial, or legislative branch; all units and corporate outgrowths created by executive order of the Governor or any constitutional officer, by the Supreme Court, or by resolution of the General Assembly; or agencies, authorities, boards, commissions, departments, institutions, offices, and any other bodies politic and corporate of a unit of local government, or school district.

"Home address" includes a permanent residence of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer and any secondary residences affirmatively identified by the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer, but does not include a work address of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer.

"Immediate family" includes a spouse, child, parent, or any blood relative of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer who lives in the same residence.

"Peace officer" has the meaning given the term in Section 2-13 of the Criminal Code of 2012.

"Personal information" means a home address, home telephone number, mobile telephone number, pager number, personal email address, social security number, federal tax identification number, checking and savings account numbers, credit card numbers, marital status, and identity of children under the age of 18.

"Publicly available content" means any written, printed, or electronic document or record that provides information or that serves as a document or record maintained, controlled, or in the possession of a government agency that may be obtained by any person or entity, from the Internet, from the government agency upon request either free of charge or for a fee, or in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

"Publicly post" or "publicly display" means to communicate to another or otherwise make available to the general public.

"Written request" means written notice signed by a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer or a representative of the employer of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer requesting a government agency, person, business, or association to refrain from posting or displaying publicly available content that includes the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer.

Section 15. Publicly posting personal information; government agencies.

(a) Government agencies shall not publicly post or display publicly available content that includes the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer if the government agency has received a written request in accordance with Section 20 that it refrain from disclosing the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer. After a government agency has received a written request, that agency shall remove the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer from publicly available content within 5 business days. After the government agency has removed the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer from publicly available content, the agency shall not publicly post or display the information and the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer shall be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act unless the government agency has received consent from the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer to make the personal information available to the public.

(b) Redress. If a government agency fails to comply with a written request to refrain from disclosing personal information, the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer may bring an action seeking injunctive or declaratory relief in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Section 20. Publicly posting personal information; persons, businesses, and associations; Internet.

(a) Prohibited Conduct.

(1) All persons, businesses, and associations shall refrain from publicly posting or displaying on the Internet publicly available content that includes the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer if the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer has made a written request to the person, business, or association that it refrain from disclosing the personal information.

(2) No person, business, or association shall solicit, sell, or trade on the Internet the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer with the intent to pose an imminent and serious threat to the health and safety of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer or the immediate family of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer.

(3) This subsection includes, but is not limited to, Internet phone directories, Internet search engines, Internet data aggregators, and Internet service providers.

(b) Required Conduct.

(1) After a person, business, or association has received a written request from a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer to protect the privacy of the personal information of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer, that person, business, or association shall have 72 hours to remove the personal information from the Internet.

(2) After a person, business, or association has received a written request from a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer, that person, business, or association shall ensure that the personal information of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer is not made available on any website or subsidiary website controlled by that person, business, or association.

(3) After receiving a written request from the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer, no person, business, or association shall transfer the personal information of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer to any other person, business, or association through any medium.

(c) Redress. A State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer whose personal information is made public as a result of a violation of this Act may bring an action seeking injunctive or declaratory relief in any court of competent jurisdiction. If the court grants injunctive or declaratory relief, the person, business, or association responsible for the violation shall be required to pay the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

Section 25. Written requests.

(a) Requirement that a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer make a written request. No government agency, person, business, or association shall be found to have violated any provision of this Act if the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer fails to submit a written request calling for the protection of the person's personal information.

(b) Written request procedure. A written request shall be valid if:

(1) the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer sends a written request directly to a government agency, person, business, or association; or

(2) if the Attorney General has a policy and procedure for a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer to file the written request with the Attorney General to notify government agencies, the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer may send the written request to the Attorney General. In each quarter of a calendar year, the Attorney General shall provide a list of all State's Attorneys, Assistant State's Attorneys, and peace officers who have submitted a written request to the Attorney General, to the appropriate officer with ultimate supervisory authority for a government agency. The officer shall promptly provide a copy of the list to any and all government agencies under his or her supervision. Receipt of the written request list compiled by the Attorney General by a government agency shall constitute a written request to that Agency for the purposes of this Act.

(c) A representative from the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer employer may submit a written request on the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer behalf if the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer gives written consent to the representative and if the representative agrees to furnish a copy of that consent when a written request is made. The representative shall submit the written request as provided in subsection (b) of this Section.

(d) Information to be included in the written request. A written request of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer shall specify what personal information shall be maintained private.

If a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer wishes to identify a secondary residence as a home address as that term is defined in this Act, the designation shall be made in the written request.

A State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer shall disclose the identity of the immediate family of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer and indicate that the personal information of these family members shall also be excluded to the extent that it could reasonably be expected to reveal the personal information of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer.

(e) Duration of the written request. A written request of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer is valid until the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer provides the government agency, person, business, or association with written permission to release the private information. The written request of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer expires on death.

Section 30. Unlawful publication of personal information. It is unlawful for any person to knowingly publicly post on the Internet the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer or of the immediate family of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer if the person knows or reasonably should know that publicly posting the personal information poses an imminent and serious threat to the health and safety of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer or the immediate family of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer, and the violation is a proximate cause of bodily injury or death of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer or the immediate family of the State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer. A person who violates this Section is guilty of a Class 3 felony.

Section 35. Exceptions for employees of government agencies. If the employee of a government agency has complied with the conditions set forth in this Act, it is not a violation of Section 30 if an employee of a government agency publishes personal information, in good faith, on the website of the government agency in the ordinary course of carrying out public functions.

Section 40. Construction. This Act and any rules adopted to implement this Act shall be construed broadly to favor the protection of the personal information of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer or the immediate family of a State's Attorney, Assistant State's Attorney, or peace officer.

Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.

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