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1 | AN ACT concerning government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | changing Sections 2 and 3 as follows:
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6 | (5 ILCS 140/3) (from Ch. 116, par. 203)
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7 | Sec. 3.
(a) Each public body shall make available to any | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | person for
inspection or copying all public records, except as | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | otherwise provided in
Section 7 of this Act.
Notwithstanding | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | any other law, a public body may not grant to any person
or | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | entity, whether by contract, license, or otherwise, the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | exclusive right to
access and disseminate any public record as | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | defined in this Act.
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14 | (b) Subject to the fee provisions of Section 6 of this Act, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | each public
body shall promptly provide, to any person who | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | submits a request,
a copy of any public record required to be | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | disclosed
by subsection (a) of this Section and shall certify | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | such copy if so requested.
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19 | (c) Requests for inspection or copies shall be made in | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | writing and directed to the public body. Written requests may | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | be submitted to a public body via personal delivery, mail, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | telefax, or other means available to the public body. A public | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | body that employs on a part-time, full-time, or contractual |
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1 | basis 5 or more employees shall respond to any request for | ||||||
2 | inspection or copies that is made by electronic mail. A public | ||||||
3 | body may honor oral requests for inspection or copying. A | ||||||
4 | public body may not require that a request be submitted on a | ||||||
5 | standard form or require the requester to specify the purpose | ||||||
6 | for a request, except to determine whether the records are | ||||||
7 | requested for a commercial purpose or whether to grant a | ||||||
8 | request for a fee waiver. All requests for inspection and | ||||||
9 | copying received by a public body shall immediately be | ||||||
10 | forwarded to its Freedom of Information officer or designee. | ||||||
11 | (d) Each public body shall, promptly, either comply with or | ||||||
12 | deny a
request for public records within 5 business days after | ||||||
13 | its receipt of the request, unless the time for response is | ||||||
14 | properly extended under subsection (e) of this Section. Denial
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15 | shall be in writing as provided in Section 9 of this Act. | ||||||
16 | Failure to comply with
a written request, extend the time for | ||||||
17 | response, or deny a request within 5 business days after its | ||||||
18 | receipt shall be considered a
denial of the request. A public | ||||||
19 | body that fails to respond to a request within the requisite | ||||||
20 | periods in this Section but thereafter provides the requester | ||||||
21 | with copies of the requested public records may not impose a | ||||||
22 | fee for such copies. A public body that fails to respond to a | ||||||
23 | request received may not treat the request as unduly burdensome | ||||||
24 | under subsection (g).
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25 | (e) The time for response under this Section may be
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26 | extended by the public body for not more than 5 business days |
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1 | from the original due date for any
of the following reasons:
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2 | (i) the requested records are stored in whole or in | ||||||
3 | part at other
locations
than the office having charge of | ||||||
4 | the requested records;
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5 | (ii) the request requires the collection of a | ||||||
6 | substantial number of
specified records;
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7 | (iii) the request is couched in categorical terms and | ||||||
8 | requires an
extensive
search for the records responsive to | ||||||
9 | it;
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10 | (iv) the requested records have not been located in the | ||||||
11 | course of routine
search and additional efforts are being | ||||||
12 | made to locate them;
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13 | (v) the requested records require examination and | ||||||
14 | evaluation by personnel
having the necessary competence | ||||||
15 | and discretion to determine if they are
exempt from | ||||||
16 | disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be | ||||||
17 | revealed
only with appropriate deletions;
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18 | (vi) the request for records cannot be complied with by | ||||||
19 | the public body
within the time limits prescribed by | ||||||
20 | paragraph (c) of this Section without
unduly burdening or | ||||||
21 | interfering with the operations of the public body;
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22 | (vii) there is a need for consultation, which shall be | ||||||
23 | conducted with all
practicable speed, with another public | ||||||
24 | body or among two or more components
of a public body | ||||||
25 | having a substantial interest in the determination or in
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26 | the subject matter of the request.
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1 | The person making a request and the public body may agree | ||||||
2 | in writing to extend the time for compliance for a period to be | ||||||
3 | determined by the parties. If the requester and the public body | ||||||
4 | agree to extend the period for compliance, a failure by the | ||||||
5 | public body to comply with any previous deadlines shall not be | ||||||
6 | treated as a denial of the request for the records. | ||||||
7 | (f) When additional time is required for any of the above | ||||||
8 | reasons, the
public body shall, within 5 business days after | ||||||
9 | receipt of the request, notify the person making the request of | ||||||
10 | the reasons
for the extension and the date by which the | ||||||
11 | response will be forthcoming. Failure to respond within the | ||||||
12 | time permitted for extension shall be considered a denial of | ||||||
13 | the request. A public body that fails to respond to a request | ||||||
14 | within the time permitted for extension but thereafter provides | ||||||
15 | the requester with copies of the requested public records may | ||||||
16 | not impose a fee for those copies. A public body that requests | ||||||
17 | an extension and subsequently fails to respond to the request | ||||||
18 | may not treat the request as unduly burdensome under subsection | ||||||
19 | (g).
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20 | (g) Requests calling for all records falling within a | ||||||
21 | category shall be
complied with unless compliance with the | ||||||
22 | request would be unduly burdensome
for the complying public | ||||||
23 | body and there is no way to narrow the request and the
burden | ||||||
24 | on the public body outweighs the public interest in the | ||||||
25 | information.
Before invoking this exemption, the public body | ||||||
26 | shall extend to the person
making the request an opportunity to |
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1 | confer with it in an attempt to reduce
the request to | ||||||
2 | manageable proportions. If any body responds to a categorical
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3 | request by stating that compliance would unduly burden its | ||||||
4 | operation and
the conditions described above are met, it shall | ||||||
5 | do so in writing, specifying
the reasons why it would be unduly | ||||||
6 | burdensome and the extent to which compliance
will so burden | ||||||
7 | the operations of the public body. Such a response shall
be | ||||||
8 | treated as a denial of the
request for information. | ||||||
9 | Repeated requests from the same person for the same records | ||||||
10 | that are unchanged or identical to records previously provided | ||||||
11 | or properly denied under this Act shall be deemed unduly | ||||||
12 | burdensome under this provision.
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13 | (h) Each public body may promulgate rules and regulations | ||||||
14 | in conformity
with the provisions of this Section pertaining to | ||||||
15 | the availability of records
and procedures to be followed, | ||||||
16 | including:
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17 | (i) the times and places where such records will be | ||||||
18 | made available, and
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19 | (ii) the persons from whom such records may be | ||||||
20 | obtained.
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21 | (i) The time periods for compliance or denial of a request | ||||||
22 | to inspect or copy records set out in this Section shall not | ||||||
23 | apply to requests for records made for a commercial purpose. | ||||||
24 | Such requests shall be subject to the provisions of Section 3.1 | ||||||
25 | of this Act. | ||||||
26 | (Source: P.A. 96-542, eff. 1-1-10.)
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