Sen. John J. Cullerton
Filed: 5/5/2004
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 956
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 956 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by | ||||||
5 | changing Section 11 as follows:
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6 | (5 ILCS 140/11) (from Ch. 116, par. 211)
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7 | Sec. 11. (a) Any person denied access to inspect or copy | ||||||
8 | any public
record by the head of a public body
may file suit | ||||||
9 | for injunctive or
declaratory relief.
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10 | (b) Where the denial is from the head of a public body of | ||||||
11 | the State, suit
may be filed in the circuit court for the | ||||||
12 | county where the public body has
its principal office or where | ||||||
13 | the person denied access resides within 60 days after the | ||||||
14 | notice of denial is sent, for any denial made on or after the | ||||||
15 | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General | ||||||
16 | Assembly. For any denial made prior to the effective date of | ||||||
17 | this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, suit may be | ||||||
18 | filed in the circuit court in a like manner within 60 days | ||||||
19 | after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd | ||||||
20 | General Assembly .
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21 | (c) Where the denial is from the head of a municipality or | ||||||
22 | other public
body, except as provided in subsection (b) of this | ||||||
23 | Section, suit may be filed
in the circuit court for the county | ||||||
24 | where the public body is located within 60 days after the |
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1 | notice of denial is sent, for any denial made on or after the | ||||||
2 | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General | ||||||
3 | Assembly. For any denial made prior to the effective date of | ||||||
4 | this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, suit may be | ||||||
5 | filed in the circuit court in a like manner within 60 days | ||||||
6 | after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd | ||||||
7 | General Assembly .
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8 | (d) The circuit court shall have the jurisdiction to enjoin | ||||||
9 | the public
body from withholding public records and to order | ||||||
10 | the production of any
public records improperly withheld from | ||||||
11 | the person seeking access. If the
public body can show that | ||||||
12 | exceptional circumstances exist, and that the
body is | ||||||
13 | exercising due diligence in responding to the request, the | ||||||
14 | court
may retain jurisdiction and allow the agency additional | ||||||
15 | time to complete
its review of the records.
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16 | (e) On motion of the plaintiff, prior to or after in camera
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17 | inspection, the court shall order the public body
to provide an | ||||||
18 | index of the records to which access has been denied. The
index | ||||||
19 | shall include the following:
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20 | (i) A description of the nature or contents of each | ||||||
21 | document
withheld, or each deletion from a released | ||||||
22 | document, provided, however,
that the public body shall not | ||||||
23 | be required to disclose the information
which it asserts is | ||||||
24 | exempt; and
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25 | (ii) A statement of the exemption or exemptions claimed | ||||||
26 | for each such
deletion or withheld document.
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27 | (f) In any action considered by the court, the court shall | ||||||
28 | consider the
matter de novo, and shall conduct such in camera | ||||||
29 | examination of the requested
records as it finds appropriate to | ||||||
30 | determine if such records or any part
thereof may be withheld | ||||||
31 | under any provision of this Act. The burden shall
be on the | ||||||
32 | public body to establish that its refusal to permit public | ||||||
33 | inspection
or copying is in accordance with the provisions of | ||||||
34 | this Act.
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1 | (g) In the event of noncompliance with an order of the | ||||||
2 | court to disclose,
the court may enforce its order against any | ||||||
3 | public official or employee
so ordered or primarily responsible | ||||||
4 | for such noncompliance through the court's
contempt powers.
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5 | (h) Except as to causes the court considers to be of | ||||||
6 | greater importance,
proceedings arising under this Section | ||||||
7 | shall take precedence on the docket
over all other causes and | ||||||
8 | be assigned for hearing and trial at the earliest
practicable | ||||||
9 | date and expedited in every way.
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10 | (i) If a person seeking the right to inspect or receive a | ||||||
11 | copy of a public
record substantially prevails in a
proceeding | ||||||
12 | under this Section, the court may award such
person reasonable | ||||||
13 | attorneys' fees and costs. If, however, the court finds
that | ||||||
14 | the fundamental purpose of the request
was to further the | ||||||
15 | commercial interests of the requestor, the court may award
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16 | reasonable attorneys' fees and costs if the court finds that | ||||||
17 | the
record or records in question were of clearly significant | ||||||
18 | interest to the
general public and that the public body lacked | ||||||
19 | any reasonable
basis in law for withholding the record.
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20 | (Source: P.A. 93-466, eff. 1-1-04.)
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21 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
22 | becoming law.".
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