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1 | AN ACT concerning freedom of information.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||
3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by | ||||||
5 | changing Sections 9, 10, and 11 as follows:
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6 | (5 ILCS 140/9) (from Ch. 116, par. 209)
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7 | Sec. 9. (a) Each public body or head of a public body | ||||||
8 | denying a request
for public records shall notify by letter the | ||||||
9 | person making the request
of the decision to deny such, the | ||||||
10 | reasons for the denial, and the names
and titles or positions
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11 | of each person responsible for the denial. Each notice of | ||||||
12 | denial by a public
body shall also inform such person of his | ||||||
13 | right to appeal to the head of
the public body. Each notice of | ||||||
14 | denial of an appeal by the head of a public
body shall inform | ||||||
15 | such person of his right to judicial review under
Section 11 of | ||||||
16 | this Act.
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17 | (b) When a request for public records is denied on the | ||||||
18 | grounds that the
records are exempt under Section 7 of this | ||||||
19 | Act, the notice of denial shall
specify the exemption claimed | ||||||
20 | to authorize the denial.
Copies of
all notices of denial shall | ||||||
21 | be retained by each public body in a single
central office file | ||||||
22 | that is open to the public and indexed according to
the type of | ||||||
23 | exemption asserted and, to the extent feasible, according to
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24 | the types of records requested.
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25 | (Source: P.A. 83-1013.)
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26 | (5 ILCS 140/10) (from Ch. 116, par. 210)
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27 | Sec. 10. (a) Any person denied access to inspect or copy | ||||||
28 | any public
record may appeal the denial by sending a written | ||||||
29 | notice of appeal to the
head of the public body. Upon receipt | ||||||
30 | of such notice the head of the public
body shall promptly | ||||||
31 | review the public record, determine whether under the
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1 | provisions of this Act such record is open to inspection and | ||||||
2 | copying, and
notify the person making the appeal of such | ||||||
3 | determination within 7 working
days after the notice of appeal. | ||||||
4 | Each notice of denial of an appeal by the head of a public body | ||||||
5 | shall inform the person of his or her right to judicial review | ||||||
6 | within 60 days after the denial under Section 11.
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7 | (b) Any person making a request for public records shall be | ||||||
8 | deemed to
have exhausted his administrative remedies with | ||||||
9 | respect to such request
if the head of the public body affirms | ||||||
10 | the denial or fails to act within
the time limit provided in | ||||||
11 | subsection (a) of this Section.
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12 | (Source: P.A. 83-1013.)
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13 | (5 ILCS 140/11) (from Ch. 116, par. 211)
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14 | Sec. 11. (a) Any person denied access to inspect or copy | ||||||
15 | any public
record by the head of a public body
may file suit | ||||||
16 | for injunctive or
declaratory relief. If the head of a public | ||||||
17 | body has issued a written denial of appeal as provided in | ||||||
18 | subsection (a) of Section 10, any suit for injunctive or | ||||||
19 | declaratory relief must be filed within 60 days after the | ||||||
20 | receipt of the denial of the appeal. For any written denial of | ||||||
21 | appeal issued before the effective date of this amendatory Act | ||||||
22 | of the 93rd General Assembly, suit for injunctive or | ||||||
23 | declaratory relief must be filed within 60 days after the | ||||||
24 | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General | ||||||
25 | Assembly.
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26 | (b) Where the denial is from the head of a public body of | ||||||
27 | the State, suit
may be filed in the circuit court for the | ||||||
28 | county where the public body has
its principal office or where | ||||||
29 | the person denied access resides.
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30 | (c) Where the denial is from the head of a municipality or | ||||||
31 | other public
body, except as provided in subsection (b) of this | ||||||
32 | Section, suit may be filed
in the circuit court for the county | ||||||
33 | where the public body is located.
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34 | (d) The circuit court shall have the jurisdiction to enjoin | ||||||
35 | the public
body from withholding public records and to order |
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1 | the production of any
public records improperly withheld from | ||||||
2 | the person seeking access. If the
public body can show that | ||||||
3 | exceptional circumstances exist, and that the
body is | ||||||
4 | exercising due diligence in responding to the request, the | ||||||
5 | court
may retain jurisdiction and allow the agency additional | ||||||
6 | time to complete
its review of the records.
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7 | (e) On motion of the plaintiff, prior to or after in camera
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8 | inspection, the court shall order the public body
to provide an | ||||||
9 | index of the records to which access has been denied. The
index | ||||||
10 | shall include the following:
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11 | (i) A description of the nature or contents of each | ||||||
12 | document
withheld, or each deletion from a released | ||||||
13 | document, provided, however,
that the public body shall not | ||||||
14 | be required to disclose the information
which it asserts is | ||||||
15 | exempt; and
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16 | (ii) A statement of the exemption or exemptions claimed | ||||||
17 | for each such
deletion or withheld document.
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18 | (f) In any action considered by the court, the court shall | ||||||
19 | consider the
matter de novo, and shall conduct such in camera | ||||||
20 | examination of the requested
records as it finds appropriate to | ||||||
21 | determine if such records or any part
thereof may be withheld | ||||||
22 | under any provision of this Act. The burden shall
be on the | ||||||
23 | public body to establish that its refusal to permit public | ||||||
24 | inspection
or copying is in accordance with the provisions of | ||||||
25 | this Act.
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26 | (g) In the event of noncompliance with an order of the | ||||||
27 | court to disclose,
the court may enforce its order against any | ||||||
28 | public official or employee
so ordered or primarily responsible | ||||||
29 | for such noncompliance through the court's
contempt powers.
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30 | (h) Except as to causes the court considers to be of | ||||||
31 | greater importance,
proceedings arising under this Section | ||||||
32 | shall take precedence on the docket
over all other causes and | ||||||
33 | be assigned for hearing and trial at the earliest
practicable | ||||||
34 | date and expedited in every way.
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35 | (i) If a person seeking the right to inspect or receive a | ||||||
36 | copy of a public
record substantially prevails in a
proceeding |
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1 | under this Section, the court may award such
person reasonable | ||||||
2 | attorneys' fees and costs. If, however, the court finds
that | ||||||
3 | the fundamental purpose of the request
was to further the | ||||||
4 | commercial interests of the requestor, the court may award
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5 | reasonable attorneys' fees and costs if the court finds that | ||||||
6 | the
record or records in question were of clearly significant | ||||||
7 | interest to the
general public and that the public body lacked | ||||||
8 | any reasonable
basis in law for withholding the record.
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9 | (Source: P.A. 93-466, eff. 1-1-04.)
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10 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
11 | becoming law. |