HB1869 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB097 09260 AJO 50815 b

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB1869

Introduced , by Rep. Frank J. Mautino

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

715 ILCS 5/5.1 new

Amends the Notice By Publication Act. Provides that notwithstanding any other law, if a statute requires a unit of local government or school district to publish a public notice in a newspaper then, at its discretion, the unit of local government or school district may satisfy that requirement by publishing the public notice on its own website, accessible to the general public, for the same time periods applicable to the newspaper publication. Provides that if a public notice is published on a website in this manner, then the unit of local government or school district must publish a notification of the website publication in a newspaper which states the website notice is available, the accurate website address of the unit of local government or school district, and a location where print versions of the item published are available. Provides that a unit of local government or school district must maintain accurate records of the content and duration of each website publication for public inspection. Provides that a public notice published on a website is not invalidated if the website becomes temporarily unavailable due to technical reasons provided that the public notice is available to the general public for at least 75% of the time that the public notice is required to be available. Defines terms. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning notices.

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

Section 5. The Notice By Publication Act is amended by adding Section 5.1 as follows:

(715 ILCS 5/5.1 new)

Sec. 5.1. Public notice by website.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if any statute requires a unit of local government or school district to publish a public notice in any newspaper, then, at the discretion of the unit of local government or school district, that publication requirement may be satisfied by publishing the public notice on a website that is maintained by the unit of local government or school district. The public notice must be published on a portion of the website that is readily accessible to the general public. The public notice must be available for viewing for the same time periods that apply to the newspaper publication.

(b) If a unit of local government or school district publishes a public notice on its website, then it must publish a notification of the website publication in a newspaper as described in Section 5. The newspaper notification must contain a statement that the website public notice is available, the complete and accurate website address of the unit of local government or school district, and a listing of the address and location where print versions of the public notice are available.

(c) If the unit of local government or school district publishes a public notice on a website under this Section, then it must maintain an accurate record of the content and duration of each website publication. The record must be available for inspection to the general public to determine whether the public notice requirements have been satisfied.

(d) If the unit of local government or school district publishes a public notice on a website under this Section, it must maintain a paper list of all public notices that are published on the website and maintain paper copies of each public notice that is currently published on the website. The list and copies of the public notices must be available for public inspection at the primary office of the unit of local government or school district.

(e) Any public notice published on a website under this Section is not invalidated if the website becomes temporarily unavailable due to technical reasons provided that the public notice is available to the general public for at least 75% of the time that the public notice is required to be available under subsection (a).

(f) For the purposes of this Section:

"Public notice" means any notice, account, report, or any other record required by law to be published by the unit of local government or school district.

"Website that is maintained by the unit of local government or school district" means a website on which public notices must be posted under Section 2.02 of the Open Meetings Act.

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