Full Text of HB0175 99th General Assembly
HB0175eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning State government.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 3.5 as follows: | 6 | | (5 ILCS 120/3.5)
| 7 | | Sec. 3.5. Public Access Counselor; opinions. | 8 | | (a) A person who believes that a violation of this Act by a | 9 | | public body has occurred may file a request for review with the | 10 | | Public Access Counselor established in the Office of the | 11 | | Attorney General not later than 60 days after the alleged | 12 | | violation. If facts concerning the violation are not discovered | 13 | | within the 60-day period, but are discovered at a later date, | 14 | | not exceeding 2 years after the alleged violation, by a person | 15 | | utilizing reasonable diligence, the request for review may be | 16 | | made within 60 days of the discovery of the alleged violation. | 17 | | The request for review must be in writing, must be signed by | 18 | | the requester, and must include a summary of the facts | 19 | | supporting the allegation. | 20 | | (b) Upon receipt of a request for review, the Public Access | 21 | | Counselor shall determine whether further action is warranted. | 22 | | If the Public Access Counselor determines from the request for | 23 | | review that the alleged violation is unfounded, he or she shall |
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| 1 | | so advise the requester and the public body and no further | 2 | | action shall be undertaken. In all other cases, the Public | 3 | | Access Counselor shall forward a copy of the request for review | 4 | | to the public body within 7 working days. The Public Access | 5 | | Counselor shall specify the records or other documents that the | 6 | | public body shall furnish to facilitate the review. Within 7 | 7 | | working days after receipt of the request for review, the | 8 | | public body shall provide copies of the records requested and | 9 | | shall otherwise fully cooperate with the Public Access | 10 | | Counselor. If a public body fails to furnish specified records | 11 | | pursuant to this Section, or if otherwise necessary, the | 12 | | Attorney General may issue a subpoena to any person or public | 13 | | body having knowledge of or records pertaining to an alleged | 14 | | violation of this Act. For purposes of conducting a thorough | 15 | | review, the Public Access Counselor has the same right to | 16 | | examine a verbatim recording of a meeting closed to the public | 17 | | or the minutes of a closed meeting as does a court in a civil | 18 | | action brought to enforce this Act. | 19 | | (c) Within 7 working days after it receives a copy of a | 20 | | request for review and request for production of records from | 21 | | the Public Access Counselor, the public body may, but is not | 22 | | required to, answer the allegations of the request for review. | 23 | | The answer may take the form of a letter, brief, or memorandum. | 24 | | Upon request, the public body may also furnish the Public | 25 | | Access Counselor with a redacted copy of the answer excluding | 26 | | specific references to any matters at issue. The Public Access |
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| 1 | | Counselor shall forward a copy of the answer or redacted | 2 | | answer, if furnished, to the person submitting the request for | 3 | | review. The requester may, but is not required to, respond in | 4 | | writing to the answer within 7 working days and shall provide a | 5 | | copy of the response to the public body. | 6 | | (d) In addition to the request for review, and the answer | 7 | | and the response thereto, if any, a requester or a public body | 8 | | may furnish affidavits and records concerning any matter | 9 | | germane to the review. | 10 | | (e) Unless the Public Access Counselor extends the time by | 11 | | no more than 21 business days by sending written notice to the | 12 | | requester and public body that includes a statement of the | 13 | | reasons for the extension in the notice, or decides to address | 14 | | the matter without the issuance of a binding opinion, the | 15 | | Attorney General shall examine the issues and the records, | 16 | | shall make findings of fact and conclusions of law, and shall | 17 | | issue to the requester and the public body an opinion within 60 | 18 | | days after initiating review. The opinion shall be binding upon | 19 | | both the requester and the public body, subject to | 20 | | administrative review under Section 7.5 of this Act. | 21 | | In responding to any written request under this Section | 22 | | 3.5, the Attorney General may exercise his or her discretion | 23 | | and choose to resolve a request for review by mediation or by a | 24 | | means other than the issuance of a binding opinion. The | 25 | | decision not to issue a binding opinion shall not be | 26 | | reviewable. |
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| 1 | | Upon receipt of a binding opinion concluding that a | 2 | | violation of this Act has occurred, the public body shall | 3 | | either take necessary action as soon as practical to comply | 4 | | with the directive of the opinion or shall initiate | 5 | | administrative review under Section 7.5. If the opinion | 6 | | concludes that no violation of the Act has occurred, the | 7 | | requester may initiate administrative review under Section | 8 | | 7.5. | 9 | | (f) If the requester files suit under Section 3 with | 10 | | respect to the same alleged violation that is the subject of a | 11 | | pending request for review, the requester shall notify the | 12 | | Public Access Counselor, and the Public Access Counselor shall | 13 | | take no further action with respect to the request for review | 14 | | and shall so notify the public body. | 15 | | (g) Records that are obtained by the Public Access | 16 | | Counselor from a public body for purposes of addressing a | 17 | | request for review under this Section 3.5 may not be disclosed | 18 | | to the public, including the requester, by the Public Access | 19 | | Counselor. Those records, while in the possession of the Public | 20 | | Access Counselor, shall be exempt from disclosure by the Public | 21 | | Access Counselor under the Freedom of Information Act. | 22 | | (h) The Attorney General may also issue advisory opinions | 23 | | to public bodies regarding compliance with this Act. A review | 24 | | may be initiated upon receipt of a written request from the | 25 | | head of the public body or its attorney. The request must | 26 | | contain sufficient accurate facts from which a determination |
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| 1 | | can be made. The Public Access Counselor may request additional | 2 | | information from the public body in order to facilitate the | 3 | | review. A public body that relies in good faith on an advisory | 4 | | opinion of the Attorney General in complying with the | 5 | | requirements of this Act is not liable for penalties under this | 6 | | Act, so long as the facts upon which the opinion is based have | 7 | | been fully and fairly disclosed to the Public Access Counselor.
| 8 | | (Source: P.A. 96-542, eff. 1-1-10.)
| 9 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 10 | | becoming law.
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